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LECTUEES ON THE
PHILOSOPHY OF EELIGION
LECTTJEES
ON THE
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
TOGETHER WITH A WORK ON THE PROOFS
OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
BY GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL
7'
TRANSLATED FROM THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION
BY THE REV. E. B. SPEIRS, B.D., AND
J. BURDON SANDERSON
THE TRANSLATION EDITED
BY THE REV. E. B. SPEIRS, B.D.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. L™
PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CUAF.IXG CROSS ROAD
1895
.
The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.
Printed ly BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co
At the Ballantync Press
193
V,
EDITOB'S PEEFACE
THE first German edition of the " Lectures on the Philo-
sophy of Religion" was published at Berlin in 1832, the
year after Hegel's death, and was the earliest instalment
of the collected edition of his printed and unprinted
works, undertaken by a number of his friends. The
book was rather hastily put together, mainly from
students' copies of lectures on the subject delivered
during different sessions, though it also contained matter
taken from notes and outlines in Hegel's own hand-
writing. A second edition, in an enlarged and very
much altered form, appeared in 1840. In the prepara-
tion of this second edition, from which the present
translation has been made, the editor, Marheineke, drew
largely on several important papers found amongst
Hegel's MSS., in which his ideas were developed in
rnuc h greater detail than in any of the sketches previously
used ; and he had also at his disposal fresh and very
complete copies of the Lectures made by some of Hegel's
most distinguished pupils. It will thus be seen that
the book in the form in which we have it, is mainly an
editorial compilation. With the exception of the "Lectures
on the Proofs of the Existence of God," which were printed
as an appendix in the German edition, and which Hegel
was revising for the press when he was suddenly carried
off by cholera in the November of 1831, no part of it,
not even the part which is Hegel's actual composition,
was intended for publication. It is only fair to Hegel's
memory that this fact should be taken into consideration,
since it accounts for what may seem the rather ragged
vi EDITOR'S PREFACE
and uneven shape of parts of the work, and for the oc-
casional want of proportion between the various sections.
However, as the Master of Balliol has pointed out, the
informal and discursive character of the Lectures on
Religion and other subjects, "if it takes from their
authority as expressions of the author's mind, and from
their value as scientific treatises, has some compensating
advantages if we regard them as a means of education
in philosophy ; for," he continues — and his words spe-
cially apply to the present set of Lectures — " in this
point of view their very artlessness gives them some-
thing of the same stimulating, suggestive power which
is attained by the consummate art of the Platonic
Dialogues."
The following translation was originally undertaken
by Miss J. Burdon Sanderson, who at the time of her
death had reached the end of the first volume of the
German edition (Vols. I., and II. 1-122, of the English
edition) ; but the rendering had by no means received
her final revision. This portion the Editor has carefully
revised, and in many parts considerably altered, though
in substance it remains as Miss Sanderson left it. The
rest of the translation, with the exception of two small
parts, is entirely the work of the Editor. A translation
of the first three Lectures on the Proofs of the Existence
of God, by E. B. Haldane, M.P., Q.C., was kindly placed
by him at the Editor's disposal, and this, with a few
minor alterations which were necessary, mainly in order
to preserve uniformity of terminology, has been printed
as it stood in Mr. Haldane's MS. He has also to thank
Miss E. Haldane, the translator of Hegel's "Lectures on
the History of Philosophy," for sending a rough draft
translation of the section on " The Eeligion of Beauty,"
which he has consulted and in part used. He lias
further to acknowledge the help derived from the letters
of the different correspondents who supplied Miss Sander-
son with various notes and suggestions, which were of
EDITOR'S PREFACE vii
great use for the revision of her portion of the work.
His special thanks are due to a friend whose assistance
was freely given amidst a variety of pressing duties, and
whose advice, particularly in all difficulties connected
with peculiarities of expression, greatly lightened the
somewhat tedious toil of translation. Her sympathy and
native knowledge of the language of the original have
been invaluable throughout.
As regards the rendering of the more strictly technical
terms employed by Hegel, it has seemed advisable not
to adhere rigidly to any one set of English words, but
rather to vary the renderings according to the various
changes of meaning, and occasionally to add an alternative
English equivalent. Thus "Begriff" has usually been
translated by " Notion " — a word which, however objec-
tionable otherwise, has already firmly fixed itself in our
philosophical terminology ; but " conception " has also
been used for it in cases where there was no risk of mis-
understanding. Miss Sanderson had decided on "idea"
as the least objectionable rendering of " Vorstellung,"
— perhaps the most troublesome word in the Hegelian
language, — and this the Editor has retained where the
German word was used in a very special sense ; but
" ordinary thought," " popular conception," and other
equivalent expressions have been freely employed ; and
in this connection the Editor desires to acknowledge
the great assistance he has derived from the notes on
Hegelian terms given by Professor Wallace in the
valuable Prolegomena to his translation of Hegel's
" Logic."
As to the work itself, this is not the place to enlarge
on its importance to students of philosophy and religion,
or to estimate its influence on the development of
modern speculative theology. Much of what is most
original and suggestive in it has already passed into
the best religious and philosophical thought of the time,
and any one who has been giving any attention to recent
viii EDITOR'S PREFACE
works on the great subject dealt with here by Hegel,
and who turns to these Lectures, will be constrained
to admit that in them we have the true " Sources "
of the evolution principle as applied to the study of
religion, although he may not be able to share the
enthusiastic hope of the German editor and disciple,
that the book, even in its present imperfect form, will
go down to posterity as the imperishable monument of
a great mind.
K B. SPEIRS.
THE MANSE, GLENDEVON,
April 26, 1895.
CONTENTS
PAOK
INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION . .1-85
A.
THE RELATION OP THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION TO ITS PRE-
SUPPOSITIONS AND TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THE TlME . 6-48
I. The severance of religion from the free worldly con-
sciousness ........ 6
II. The position of the philosophy of religion relatively
to philosophy and religion . . . .18
1. The attitude of philosophy to religion generally 18
2. The relation of the philosophy of religion to the
system of philosophy 23
3. The relation of the philosophy of religion to posi-
tive religion 27
III. The relation of the philosophy of religion to the
current principles of the religious consciousness. 35
1. Philosophy and the prevalent indifference to de-
finite dogmas . . . . . . .38
2. The historical treatment of dogmas ... 40
3. Philosophy and immediate knowledge . . 42
B.
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS 48-58
C.
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT 59-85
x CONTENTS
THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.
PART I.
PAOR
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION . . . . . 89-258
A.
OP GOD 90-100
B.
THE RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE 101-210
I. The necessity of the religious standpoint . . .105
II. The forms of the religious consciousness . . -115
1. The form of feeling 118
2. Perception 138
3. Idea, or ordinary thought 142
III. The necessity and mediation of the religious attitude
in the form of thought .... 155-210
1. The dialectic of idea 156
2. The mediation of the religious consciousness in
itself 160
a. Immediate knowledge and mediation . .160
b. Mediated knowledge as observation and reflection 172
a. Finiteness in sensuous existence . . . 1 80
/3. Finiteness from the point of view of reflection 1 82
y. The rational way of looking at finiteness . 193
e. The transition to the speculative conception of
religion 199
3. The speculative notion or conception of religion . 204
C.
WORSHIP OR CULTUS . . . . . ... 210-258
I. Of faith 2ii
II. The definite character and special forms of worship,
or cultus 229
III. The relation of religion to the State .... 246
CONTENTS xi
PART II.
PACK
DEFINITE RELIGION . .261
Division of the subject ...... 261-269
FIRST DIVISION.
THE RELIGION OF NATURE 270-349
I. Immediate religion ...... 270-316
a. Magic ........ 290
b. The objective characteristics of the religion of
magic 298
c. Worship or cultus in the religion of magic . 316
II. The division of consciousness within itself . .317
i. The Chinese religion, or the religion of measure . 335
a. The general character of this religion . -335
6. The historical existence of this religion . -336
c. Worship or cultus 347~349
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
IT has appeared to me to be necessary to make religion
by itself the object of philosophical consideration, and to
add on this study of it, in the form of a special part, to
philosophy as a whole. By way of introduction I shall,
however, first of all (A) give some account of the sever-
ance or division of consciousness, which awakens the
need our science has to satisfy, and describe the relation
of this science to philosophy and religion, as also^to the
prevalent principles of the religious consciousness. Then,
after I have (B) touched upon some preliminary questions
which follow from those relations, I shall give (C) the
division of the subject.
To begin with, it is necessary to recollect generally
what object we have before us in the Philosophy of
Religion, and what is our ordinary idea of religion. We
know that in religion we withdraw ourselves from what
is temporal, and that religion is for our consciousness
that region in which all the enigmas of the world are
solved, all the contradictions of deeper-reaching thought
have their meaning unveiled, and where the voice of the
heart's pain is silenced — the region of eternal truth, of
eternal rest, of eternal peace. Speaking generally, it is
through thought, concrete thought, or, to put it more.
VOL. I. A
2 INTRODUCTION TO THE
definitely, it is by reason of his being Spirit, that man is
man ; and from man as Spirit proceed all the many
developments of the sciences and arts, the interests of
political life, and all those conditions which have refer-
ence to man's freedom and will. But all these mani-
fold forms of human relations, activities, and pleasures,
and all the ways in which these are intertwined ; all
that has worth and dignity for man, all wherein he
seeks his happiness, his glory, and his pride, finds its
ultimate centre in religion, in the thought, the conscious-
ness, and the feeling of God. Thus God is the begin-
ning of all things, and the end of all things. As all
things proceed from this point, so all return back to it
again. He is the centre which gives life and quicken-
ing to all things, and which animates and preserves in
existence all the various forms of being. In religion
man places himself in a relation to this centre, in which
all other relations concentrate themselves, and in so doing
he rises up to the highest level of consciousness and
to the region which is free from relation to what is other
than itself, to something which is absolutely self-sufficient,
the unconditioned, what is free, and is its own object
and end.
Eeligion, as something which is occupied with this
final object and end, is therefore absolutely free, and is
its own end ; for all other aims converge in this ultimate
end, and in presence of itthey vanish and cease to have
value of their own. No other aim can hold its ground
against this, and here alone all find their fulfilment.
In the region where the spirit occupies itself with this
end, it unburdens itself of all finiteness, and wins for
itself final satisfaction and deliverance; for here the spirit
relates itself no longer to something that is other than
itself, and that is limited, but to the unlimited and
infinite, and this is an infinite relation, a relation of
freedom, and no longer of dependence. Here its con-
sciousness is absolutely free, and is indeed true conscious-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 3
ness, because it is consciousness of absolute truth. In
its character as feeling, this condition of freedom is the
sense of satisfaction which we call blessedness, while as
activity it has nothing further to do than to manifest
the honour of God and to reveal His glory, and in this
attitude it is no longer with himself that man is con-
cerned— with his own interests or his empty pride — but
with the absolute end. All the various peoples feel that
it is in the religious consciousness they possess truth,
and they have always regarded religion as constituting
their true dignity and the Sabbath of their life. What-
ever awakens in us doubt and fear, all sorrow, all care,
all the limited interests of finite life, we leave behind
on the shores of time ; and as from the highest peak of
a mountain, far away from all definite view of what is
earthly, we look down calmly upon all the limitations of
the landscape and of the world, so with the spiritual eye
man, lifted out of the hard realities of this actual world,
contemplates it as something having only the semblance
of existence, which seen from this pure region bathed in
the beams of the spiritual sun, merely reflects back its
shades of colour, its varied tints and lights, softened
away into eternal rest. In this region of spirit flow the
streams of forgetfulness from which Psyche drinks, and
in which she drowns all sorrow, while the dark things of
this life are softened away into a dream-like vision, and
become transfigured until they are a mere framework for
the brightness of the Eternal.
This image of the Absolute may have a more or less
present vitality and certainty for the religious and devout
mind, and be a present source of pleasure ; or it may be
represented as something longed and hoped for, far off,
and in the future. Still it always remains a certainty,
and its rays stream as something divine into this present
temporal life, giving the consciousness of the active pres-
ence of truth, even amidst the anxieties which torment
the soul here in this region of time. Faith recognises it
4 INTRODUCTION TO THE
as the truth, as the substance of actual existing things ;
and what thus forms the essence of religious contempla-
tion, is the vital force in the present -world, makes itself
actively felt in the life of the individual, and governs his
entire conduct. Such is the general perception, sensa-
tion, consciousness, or however we may designate it, of
religion. To consider, to examine, and to comprehend
its nature is the object of the present lectures.
We must first of all, however, definitely understand,
in reference to the end we have in view, that it is not
the concern of philosophy to produce religion in any in-
dividual. Its existence is, on the contrary, presupposed
as forming what is fundamental in every one. So far as
man's essential nature is concerned, nothing new is to be
introduced into him. To try to do this would be as
absurd as to give a dog printed writings to chew, under
the idea that in this way you could put mind into it.
He who has not extended his spiritual interests beyond
the hurry and bustle of this finite world, nor succeeded
in lifting himself above this life through aspiration,
through the anticipation, through the feeling of the Eter-
nal, and who has not gazed upon the pure ether of the
soul, does not possess in himself that element which it is
our object here to comprehend.
It may happen that religion is awakened in the heart
by means of philosophical knowledge, but it is not neces-
sarily so. It is not the purpose of philosophy to edify,
and quite as little is it necessary for it to make good its
claims by showing in any particular case that it must
produce religious feeling in the individual. Philosophy,
it is true, has to develop the necessity of religion in and
for itself, and to grasp the thought that Spirit must of
necessity advance from the other modes of its will in
conceiving and feeling to this absolute mode ; but it is
the universal destiny of Spirit which is thus accomplished.
It is another matter to raise up the individual subject to
this height. The self-will, the perversity, or the indo-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 5
lence of individuals may interfere with the necessity of
their universal spiritual nature ; individuals may deviate
from it, and attempt to get for themselves a standpoint
of their own, and hold to it. This possibility of letting
oneself drift, through inertness, to the standpoint of un-
truth, or of lingering there consciously and purposely, is
involved in the freedom of the subject, while planets,
plants, animals, cannot deviate from the necessity of their
nature — from their truth — and become what they ought
to be. But in human freedom what is and what ought
to be are separate. This freedom brings with it the
power of free choice, and it is possible for it to sever
itself from its necessity, from its laws, and to work in
opposition to its true destiny. Therefore, although philo-
sophical knowledge should clearly perceive the necessity
of the religious standpoint, and though the will should
learn in the sphere of reality the nullity of its separation,
all this does not hinder the will from being able to per-
sist in its obstinacy, and to stand aloof from its necessity
and truth.
There is a common and shallow manner of arguing
against cognition or philosophical knowledge, as when,
for instance, it is said that such and such a man has a
knowledge of God, and yet remains far from religion, and
has not become godly. It is not, however, the aim of
knowledge to lead to this, nor is it meant to do so. '
What knowledge must do is to know religion as some-
thing which already exists.' It is neither its intention
nor its duty to induce this or that person, any particular
empirical subject, to be religious if he has not been so
before, if he has nothing of religion in himself, and does
not wish to have.
But the fact is, no man is so utterly ruined, so lost,
and so bad, nor can we regard any one as being so
wretched that he has no religion whatever in him, even
if it were only that he has the fear of it, or some yearn-
ing after it, or a feeling of hatred towards it. For even
6 INTRODUCTION TO THE
in tins last case he is inwardly occupied with it, and
cannot free himself from it. As man, religion is essen-
tial to him, and is not a feeling foreign to his nature.
Yet the essential question is the relation of religion to
his general theory of the universe, and it is with this
that philosophical knowledge connects itself, and upon
which it essentially works. In this relation we have the
source of the division which arises in opposition to the
primary absolute tendency of the spirit toward religion,
and here, too, all the manifold forms of consciousness,
and their most widely differing connections with the
main interest of religion, have sprung up. Before the
Philosophy of Eeligion can sum itself up in its own peculiar
conception, it must work itself through all those ramifi-
cations of the interests of the time which have at present
concentrated themselves in the widely-extended sphere
of religion. At first the movement of the principles of
the time has its place outside of philosophical study, but
this movement pushes on to the point at which it comes
into contact, strife, and antagonism with philosophy.
We shall consider this opposition and its solution when
we have examined the opposition as it still maintains
itself outside of philosophy, and have seen it develop
until it reaches that completed state where it involves
philosophical knowledge in itself.
THE RELATION OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION TO ITS
PRESUPPOSITIONS AND TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THE TIME.
I. — THE SEVERANCE OP RELIGION FROM THE FREE
WORLDLY CONSCIOUSNESS.
a. In the relation in which religion, even in its im-
mediacy, stands to the other forms of the consciousness
of man, there already lie germs of division, since both
sides are conceived of as in a condition of separation
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 7
relatively to each other. In their simple relation they
already constitute two kinds of pursuits, two different
regions of consciousness, and we pass to and fro from the
one to the other alternately only. Thus man has in his
actual worldly life a number of working days during
which he occupies himself with his own special interests,
with worldly aims in general, and with the satisfaction
of his needs ; and then he has a Sunday, when he lays
all this aside, collects his thoughts, and, released from
absorption in finite occupations, lives to himself and to
the higher nature which is in him, to his true essential
being. But into this separateness of the two sides there
directly enters a double modification.
(a.) Let us consider first of all the religion of the godly
man ; that is, of one who truly deserves to be so called.
Faith is still presupposed as existing irrespective of, and
without opposition to, anything else. To believe in God
is thus in its simplicity, something different from that
where a man, with reflection and with the consciousness
that something else stands opposed to this faith, says, " I
believe in God." Here the need of justification, of in-
ference, of controversy, has already come in. Now that
religion of the simple, godly man is not kept shut off
and divided from the rest of his existence and life, but,
on the contrary, it breathes its influence over all his feel-
ings and actions, and his consciousness brings all the
aims and objects of his worldly life into relation to God,
as to its infinite and ultimate source. Every moment of
his finite existence and activity, of his sorrow and joy,
is lifted up by him out of his limited sphere, and by
being thus lifted up produces in him the idea and sense
of his eternal nature. The rest of his life, in like
manner, is led under the conditions of confidence, of
custom, of dutif ulness, of habit ; he is that which cir-
cumstances and nature have made him, and he takes his
life, his circumstances, and rights as he receives every-
thing, namely, as a lot or destiny which he does not
8 INTRODUCTION TO THE
understand. It is so. In regard to God, he either takes
what is His and gives thanks, or else he offers it up to
Him freely as a gift of free grace. The rest of his con-
scious life is thus subordinated, without reflection, to that
higher region.
(/5.) From the worldly side, however, the distinction
involved in this relation develops until it becomes oppo-
sition. It is true that the development of this side does
not seem to affect religion injuriously, and all action
seems to limit itself strictly to that side in the matter.
Judging from what is expressly acknowledged, religion
is still looked upon as what is highest ; but as a matter
of fact it is not so, and starting from the worldly side,
ruin and disunion creep over into religion. The develop-
ment of this distinction may be generally designated as
the maturing of the understanding and of human aims.
While understanding awakens in human life and in
science, and reflection has become independent, the will
sets before itself absolute aims ; for example, justice, the
state, objects which are to have absolute worth, to be in
and for themselves. Thus research recognises the laws,
the constitution, the order, and the peculiar characteris-
tics of natural things, and of the activities and produc-
tions of Spirit. Now these experiences and forms of
knowledge, as well as the willing and actual carrying out
of these aims, is a work of man, both of his understand-
ing and will. In them he is in presence of what is his
own. Although he sets out from what is, from what he
finds, yet he is no longer merely one who knows, who
has these rights ; but what he makes out of that which
is given in knowledge and in will is his affair, his work,
and he has the consciousness that he has produced it.
Therefore these productions constitute his glory and his
pride, and provide for him an immense, an infinite wealth
— that world of his intelligence, of his knowledge, of his
external possession, of his rights and deeds.
Thus the spirit has entered into the condition of oppo-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION g
sition — as yet, it is true, artlessly, and without at first
knowing it — but the opposition comes to be a conscious
one, for the spirit now moves between two sides, of which
the distinction has actually developed itself. The one
side is that in which the spirit knows itself to be its own,
where it lives in its own aims and interests, and deter-
mines itself on its own authority as independent and self-
sustaining. The other side is that where the spirit re-
cognises a higher Power — absolute duties, duties without
rights belonging to them, and what the spirit receives for
the accomplishment of its duties is always regarded as
grace alone. In the first instance it is the independence
of the spirit which is the foundation, here its attitude is
that of humility and dependence. Its religion is accord-
ingly distinguished from what we have in that region
of independence by this, that it restricts knowledge,
science, to the worldly side, and leaves for the sphere of
religion, feeling and faith.
(7.) Notwithstanding, that aspect of independence in-
volves this also, that its action is conditioned, and know-
ledge and will must have experience of the fact that it is
thus conditioned. Man demands his right ; whether or
not he actually gets it, is something independent of his
efforts, and he is referred in the matter to an Other. In
the act of knowledge he sets out from the organisation
and order of nature, and this is something given. The
content of his sciences is a material outside of him.
Thus the two sides, that of independence and that of
conditionality, enter into relation with each other, and this
relation leads man to the avowal that everything is made
by God — all things which constitute the content of his
knowledge, which he takes possession of, and uses as
means for his ends, as well as he himself, the spirit and
the spiritual faculties of which he, as he says, makes use,
in order to attain to that knowledge.
But this admission is cold and lifeless, because that
which constitutes the vitality of this consciousness, in
lo INTRODUCTION TO THE
which it is "at home with itself," and is self-conscious-
ness, this insight, this knowledge are wanting in it. All
that is determined comes, on the contrary, to be included
in the sphere of knowledge, and of human, self-appointed
aims, and here, too, it is only the activity belonging
to self-consciousness which is present. Therefore that
admission is unfruitful too, because it does not get
beyond the abstract-universal, that is to say, it stops
short at the thought that all is a work of God, and with
regard to objects which are absolutely different (as, for
example, the course of the stars and their laws, ants, or
men), that relation continues for it fixed at one and the
same point, namely this, that God has made all. Since
this religious relation of particular objects is always
expressed in the same monotonous manner, it would
become tedious and burdensome if it were repeated in
reference to each individual thing. Therefore the matter
is settled with the one admission, that God has made
everything, and this religious side is thereby satisfied once
for all, and then in the progress of knowledge and the
pursuit of aims nothing further is thought of the matter.
It would accordingly appear that this admission is made
simply and solely in order to get rid of the whole busi-
ness, or perhaps it may be to get protection for the
religious side as it were relatively to what is without.
In short, such expressions may be used either in earnest
or not.
Piety does not weary of lifting up its eyes to God
on all and every occasion, although it may do so daily
and hourly in the same manner. But as religious feel-
ing, it really rests in singleness or single instances ; it
is in every moment wholly what it is, and is without
reflection and the consciousness which compares experi-
ences. It is here, on the contrary, where knowledge
and self-determination are concerned, that this com-
parison, and the consciousness of that sameness, are
essentially present, and then a general proposition is
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION M
enunciated once for all. On the one side we have
understanding playing its part, while over against it is
the religious feeling of dependence.
b. Even piety is not exempt from the fate of falling
into a state of division or dualism. On the contrary,
division is already present in it implicitly, in that its
actual content is only a manifold, accidental one. These
two attitudes, namely, that of piety and of the under-
standing that compares, however different they seem to
be, have this in common, that in them the relation
of God to the other side of consciousness is undeter-
mined and general. The second of these attitudes
has indicated and pronounced this unhesitatingly in
the expression already quoted, " God has created all
things."
(a.) The manner of looking at things, however, which
is followed by the religious man, and whereby he gives
a greater completeness to his reflection, consists in the
contemplation of the constitution and arrangement of
things according to the relations of ends, and similarly in
the regarding all the circumstances of individual life, as
well as the great events of history, as proceeding from
Divine purposes, or else as directed and leading back to
such. The universal divine relation is thus not adhered
to here. On the contrary, this becomes a definite rela-
tion, and consequently a more strictly defined content is
introduced — for the manifold materials are placed in
relation to one another, and God is then considered as
the one who brings about these relations. Animals and
their surroundings are accordingly regarded as beings
definitely regulated, in that they have food, nurture their
young, are provided with weapons as a defence against
what is hurtful, stand the winter, and can protect them-
selves against enemies. In human life it is seen how
man is led to happiness, whether it be eternal or tem-
poral, by means of this or that apparent accident, or
perhaps misfortune. In short, the action, the will of
12 INTRODUCTION TO THE
God, is contemplated here in definite dealings, conditions
of nature, occurrences, and such-like.
But this content itself, these ends, representing thus
a finite content, are accidental, are taken up only for the
moment, and even directly disappear in an inconsistent
and illogical fashion. If, for example, we admire the
wisdom of God in nature because we see how animals
are provided with weapons, partly to obtain their food
and partly to protect them against enemies, yet it is
presently seen in experience that these weapons are
of no avail, and that those creatures which have been
considered as ends are made use of by others as
means.
It is therefore really progressive knowledge which has
depreciated and supplanted this external contemplation
of ends ; that higher knowledge, namely, which, to begin
with, at least demands consistency, and recognises ends of
this kind, which are taken as Divine ends, as subordinate
and finite — as something which proves itself in the very
same experience and observation to be worthless, and not
to be an object of the eternal, divine Will.
If that manner of looking at the matter be accepted,
and if, at the same time, its inconsistency be disregarded,
yet it still remains indefinite and superficial, for the very
reason that all and every content — no matter what it
be — may be included in it ; for there is nothing, no
arrangement of nature, no occurrence, which, regarded in
some aspect or other, might not be shown to have some
use. Eeligious feeling is, in short, here no longer pre-
sent in its naive and experimental character. On the
contrary, it proceeds from the universal thought of an
end, of a good, and makes inferences, inasmuch as it
subsumes present things under these universal thoughts.
But this argumentation, this inferential process, brings
the religious man into a condition of perplexity, because
however much he may point to what serves a purpose,
and is useful in this immediate world of natural things,
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 13
he sees, in contrast to all this, just as much that does not
serve a purpose, and is injurious. What is profitable to
one person is detrimental to another, and therefore does
not serve a purpose. The preservation of life and of the
interests bound up with existence, which in the one case
is promoted, is in the other case just as much endan-
gered and put a stop to. Thus an implicit dualism or
division is involved here, for in contradiction to God's
eternal manner of operation, finite things are elevated to
the rank of essential ends. The idea of God and of His
manner of operation as universal and necessary is contra-
dicted by this inconsistency, which is even destructive of
that universal character.
Now, if the religious man considers external ends and
the externality of the whole matter in accordance with
which these things are profitable for an Other, the natural
determinateness, which is the point of departure, appears
indeed to be only for an Other. But this, more closely
considered, is its own relation, its own nature, the
immanent nature of what is related, its necessity, in
short. Thus it is that the actual transition to the other
side, which was formerly designated as the moment of
selfness, comes about for ordinary religious thought.
(/3.) Religious feeling, accordingly, is forced to abandon
its argumentative process ; and now that a beginning has
once been made with thought, and with the relations of
thought, it becomes necessary, above all things to thought,
to demand and to look for that which belongs to itself ;
namely, first of all consistency and necessity, and to place
itself in opposition to that standpoint of contingency.
And with this, the principle of selfness at once develops
itself completely. " I," as simple, universal, as thought,
am really relation ; since I am for myself, am self-con-
sciousness, the relations too are to be for me. To the
thoughts, ideas which I make my own, I give the
character which I myself am. I am this simple point,
and that which is for me I seek to apprehend in this unity..
14 INTRODUCTION TO THE
Knowledge so far aims at that which is, and the
necessity of it, and apprehends this in the relation of
cause and effect, reason and result, power and manifesta-
tion ; in the relation of the Universal, of the species and
of the individual existing things which are included in
the sphere of contingency. Knowledge, science, in this
manner places the manifold material in mutual relation,
takes away from it the contingency which it has through
its immediacy, and while contemplating the relations
which belong to the wealth of finite phenomena, encloses
the world of fiuiteness in itself so as to form a system of
the universe, of such a kind that knowledge requires
nothing for this system outside of the system itself. For
what a thing is, what it is in its essential determinate
character, is disclosed when it is perceived and made the
subject of observation. From the constitution of things,
we proceed to their connections in which they stand in
relation to an Other ; not, however, in an accidental, but
in a determinate relation, and in which they point back
to the origiual source from which they are a deduction.
Thus we inquire after the reasons and causes of things ;
and the meaning of inquiry here is, that what is desired
is to know the special causes. Thus it is no longer suffi-
cient to speak of God as the cause of the lightning, or
of the downfall of the Eepublican system of government
in Rome, or of the French Eevolution ; here it is per-
ceived that this cause is only an entirely general one,
and does not yield the desired explanation. What we
wish to know regarding a natural phenomenon, or re-
garding this or that law as effect or result, is, the reason
as the reason of this particular phenomenon, that is to
say, not the reason which applies to all things, but only
and exclusively to this definite thing. And thus the
reason must be that of such special phenomena, and such
reason or ground must be the most immediate, must be
sought and laid hold of in the finite, and must itself be
a finite one. Therefore this knowledge does not go
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 15
above or beyond the sphere of the finite, nor does it
desire to do so, since it is able to apprehend all in its
finite sphere, is conversant with everything, and knows
its course of action. In this manner science forms a
universe of knowledge, to which God is not necessary,
which lies outside of religion, and has absolutely nothing
to do with it. In this kingdom, knowledge spreads itself
out in its relations and connections, and in so doing has
all determinate material and content on its side ; and for
the other side, the side of the infinite and the eternal,
nothing whatever is left.
(7.) Thus both sides have developed themselves com-
pletely in their opposition. On the side of religion the
heart is filled with what is Divine, but without freedom,
or self-consciousness, and without consistency in regard
to what is determinate, this latter having, on the contrary,
the form of contingency. Consistent connection of what
is determinate belongs to the side of knowledge, which
is at home in the finite, and moves freely in the thought-
determinations of the manifold connections of things,
but can only create a system which is without absolute
substantiality — without God. The religious side gets
the absolute material and purpose, but only as something
abstractly positive. Knowledge has taken possession of
all finite material and drawn it into its territory, all
determinate content has fallen to its share ; but although
it gives it a necessary connection, it is still unable to
give it the absolute connection. Since finally science
has taken possession of knowledge, and is the conscious-
ness of the necessity of the finite, religion has become
devoid of knowledge, and has shrivelled up into simple
feeling, into the contentless or empty elevation of the
spiritual to the Eternal. It can, however, affirm nothing
regarding the Eternal, for all that could be regarded as
knowledge would be a drawing down of the Eternal into
the sphere of the finite, and of finite connections of
things.
16 INTRODUCTION TO THE
Now when two aspects of thought, which are so de-
veloped in this way, enter into relation with one another,
their attitude is one of mutual distrust. Religious feeling
distrusts the finiteness which lies in knowledge, and it
brings against science the charge of futility, because in it
the subject clings to itself, is in itself, and the " I " as the
knowing subject is independent in relation to all that
is external. On the other hand, knowledge has a distrust
of the totality in which feeling entrenches itself, and in
which it confounds together all extension and develop-
ment. It is afraid to lose its freedom should it comply
with the demand of feeling, and unconditionally recognise
a truth which it does not definitely understand. And
when religious feeling comes out of its universality, sets
ends before itself, and passes over to the determinate,
knowledge can see nothing but arbitrariness in this, and
if it were to pass in a similar way to anything definite,
would feel itself given over to mere contingency. When,
accordingly, reflection is fully developed, and has to pass
over into the domain of religion, it is unable to hold out
in that region, and becomes impatient with regard to all
that peculiarly belongs to it.
c. Now that the opposition has arrived at this stage
of development, where the one side, whenever it is
approached by the other, invariably thrusts it away from
it as an enemy, the necessity for an adjustment comes
in, of such a kind that the infinite shall appear in the
finite, and the finite in the infinite, and each no longer
form a separate realm. This would be the reconcilia-
tion of religious, genuine simple feeling, with knowledge
and intelligence. This reconciliation must correspond
with the highest demands of knowledge, and of the Notion,
for these can surrender nothing of their dignity. But.
just as little can anything of the absolute content be
given up, and that content be brought down into the region
of finiteness ; and when face to face with it knowledge
must give up its finite form.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 17
In the Christian religion, more than in other religions,
the need of this reconciliation has of necessity come into
prominence, for the following reasons : —
(a.) The Christian religion has its very beginning in ab-
solute dualism or division, and starts from that sense of
suffering in which it rends the natural unity of the spirit
asunder, and destroys natural peace. In it man appears as
evil from his birth, and is thus in his innermost life in
contradiction with himself, and the spirit, as it is driven
back into itself, finds itself separated from the infinite,
absolute Essence.
(/3.) The Eeconciliation, the need of which is here in-
tensified to the uttermost degree, appears in the first place
for Faith, but not in such a way as to allow of faith being
of a merely ingenuous kind. For the spirit has left its
natural simplicity behind, and entered upon an internal con-
flict ; it is, as sinful, an Other in opposition to the truth ;
it is withdrawn, estranged from it. " I," in this condition
of schism, am not the truth, and this is therefore given
as an independent content of ordinary thought, and the
truth is in the first instance put forward upon authority.
(y.) When, however, by this means I am transplanted
into an intellectual world in which the nature of God,
the characteristics and modes of action which belong to
God, are presented to knowledge, and when the truth of
these rests on the witness and assurance of others, yet I
am at the same time referred into myself, for thought,
knowledge, reason are in me, and in the feeling of sinful-
ness, and in reflection upon this, my freedom is plainly
revealed to me. Rational knowledge, therefore, is an
essential element in the Christian religion itself.
In the Christian religion I am to retain my freedom
or rather, in it I am to become free. In it the subject,
the salvation of the soul, the redemption of the individual
as an individual, and not only the species, is an essential
end. This subjectivity, this selfncss (not selfishness) is
just the principle of rational knowledge itself.
VOL. I. B
18 INTRODUCTION TO THE
Rational knowledge being thus a fundamental charac-
teristic in the Christian religion, the latter gives develop-
ment to its content, for the ideas regarding its general
subject-matter are implicitly or in themselves thoughts,
and must as such develop themselves. On the other
hand, however, since the content is something which
exists essentially for the mind as forming ideas, it is
distinct from unreflecting opinion and sense-knowledge,
and as it were passes right beyond the distinction. In
short, it has in relation to subjectivity the value of an
absolute content existing in and for itself. The Christian
religion therefore touches the antithesis between feeling
and immediate perception on the one hand, and reflection
and knowledge on the other. It contains rational know-
ledge as an essential element, and has supplied to this
rational knowledge the occasion for developing itself to
its full logical issue as Form and as a world of form, and
has thus at the same time enabled it to place itself in oppo-
sition to this content as it appears in the shape of given
truth. It is from this that the discord which charac-
terises the thought of the present day arises.
Hitherto we have considered the progressive growth
of the antitheses only in the form in which they have
not yet developed into actual philosophy, or in which
they still stand outside of it. Therefore the questions
which primarily come before us are these : i . How
does philosophy in general stand related to religion ?
2. How does the Philosophy of Religion stand related to
philosophy? and 3. What is the relation of the philo-
sophical study of religion to positive religion ?
II. — THE POSITION OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION RELA-
TIVELY TO PHILOSOPHY AND TO RELIGION.
I . The Attitude of Philosophy to Religion generally.
In saying above that philosophy makes religion the
subject of consideration, and when further this considera-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 19
lion of it appears to be in the position of something
which is different from its object, it would seem as if
we are still occupying that attitude in which both sides
remain mutually independent and separate. In taking
up such an attitude in thus considering the subject, we
should accordingly come out of that region of devotion
and enjoyment which religion is, and the object and the
consideration of it as the movement of thought would
be as different as, for example, the geometrical figures
in mathematics are from the mind which considers them.
Such is only the relation, however, as it at first appears,
when knowledge is still severed from the religious side,
and is finite knowledge. On the contrary, when we look
more closely, it becomes apparent that as a matter of
fact the content, the need, and the interest of philosophy
represent something which it has in common with religion.
, The object of religion as well as of philosophy is
eternal truth in its objectivity, God and nothing but God,
and the explication of God. Philosophy is not a wisdom
of the world, but is knowledge of what is not of the
world ; it is not knowledge which concerns external
mass, or empirical existence and life, but is knowledge
of that which is eternal, of what God is, and what flows
out of His nature. For this His nature must reveal
and develop itself. Philosophy, therefore, only unfolds
itself when it unfolds religion, and in unfolding itself it
unfolds religion. As thus occupied with eternal truth
which exists on its own account, or is in and for itself,
and, as in fact, a dealing on the part of the thinking
spirit, and not of individual caprice and particular interest,
with this object, it is the same kind of activity as religion
is. The mind in so far as it thinks philosophically
immerses itself with like living interest in this object,
and renounces its particularity in that it permeates its
object, in the same way, as religious consciousness does,
for the latter also does not seek to have anything of its
own, but desires only to immerse itself in this content.
20 INTRODUCTION TO THE
Thus religion and philosophy come to be one. Philo-
sophy is itself, in fact, worship ; it is religion, for in the
same way it renounces subjective notions and opinions
in order to occupy itself with God. Philosophy is thus
identical with religion, but the distinction is that it is
so in a peculiar manner, distinct from the manner of
looking at things which is commonly called religion as
such. What they have in common is, that they are
religion ; what distinguishes them from each other is
merely the kind and manner of religion we find in each.
It is in the peculiar way in which they both occupy
themselves with God that the distinction comes out.
It is just here, however, that the difficulties lie which
appear so great, that it is even regarded as an impos-
sibility that philosophy should be one with religion.
Hence comes the suspicion with which philosophy is
looked upon by theology, and the antagonistic attitude
of religion and philosophy. In accordance with this
antagonistic attitude (as theology considers it to be)
philosophy seems to act injuriously, destructively, upon
religion, robbing it of its sacred character, and the
way in which it occupies itself with God seems to be
absolutely different from religion. Here, then, is the
same old opposition and contradiction which had already
made its appearance among the Greeks. Among that
free democratic people, the Athenians, philosophical
writings were burnt, and Socrates was condemned to
death ; now, however, this opposition is held to be an
acknowledged fact, more so than that unity of religion
and philosophy just asserted.
Old though this opposition is, however, the combina-
tion of philosophy and religion is just as old. Already
to the neo-Pythagoreans and neo-Platonists, who were
as yet within the heathen world, the gods of the people
.were not gods of imagination, but had become gods of
thought. That combination had a place, too, among the
most eminent of the Fathers of the Church, who in their
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION zi
religious life took up an essentially intellectual attitude
inasmuch as they set out from the presupposition that
theology is religion together with conscious thought and
comprehension. »It is to their philosophical culture that
the Christian Church is indebted for the first beginnings
of a content of Christian doctrine. «
This union of religion and philosophy was carried out
to a still greater extent in the Middle Ages. So little
was it believed that the knowledge which seeks to com-
prehend is hurtful to faith, that it was even held to be
essential to the further development of faith itself. It
was by setting out from philosophy that those great men,
Ansel in and Abelard, further developed the essential
characteristics of faith.
Knowledge in constructing its world for itself, with-
out reference to religion, had only taken possession of
the finite contents ; but since it has developed into the
true philosophy, it has the same content as religion.
If we now look provisionally for the distinction between
religion and philosophy as it presents itself in this unity
of content, we find it takes the following form : —
a. A speculative philosophy is the consciousness of the
Idea, so that everything is apprehended as Idea ; the Idea,
however, is the True in thought, and not in mere sensuous
contemplation or in ordinary conception. The True in
thought, to put it more precisely, means that it is some-
thing concrete, posited as divided in itself, and in such away,
indeed, that the two sides of what is divided are opposed
characteristics of thought, and the Idea must be conceived
of as the unity of these. To think speculatively means
to resolve anything real into its parts, and to oppose these
to each other in sucli a way that the distinctions are set
in opposition in accordance with the characteristics of
thought, and the object is apprehended as unity of the two.
In sense-perception or picture-thought we have the
object before us as a whole, our reflection distinguishes,
apprehends different sides, recognises the diversity in
22 INTRODUCTION TO THE
them, and severs them. In this act of distinguishing,
reflection does not keep firm hold of their unity. Some-
times it forgets the wholeness, sometimes the distinctions ;
and if it has both before it, it yet separates the proper-
ties from the object, and so places both that that in which
the two are one becomes a third, which is different from
the object and its properties. In the case of mechanical
objects which appear in the region of externality, this
relation may have a place, for the object is only the life-
less substratum for the distinctions, and the quality of
oneness is the gathering together of external aggregates.
In the true object, however, which is not merely an aggre-
gate, an externally united multiplicity, the object is one,
although it has characteristics which are distinguished
from it, and it is speculative thought which first gets a
grasp of the unity in this very antithesis as such. It is in
fact the business of speculative thought to apprehend all
objects of pure thought, of nature and of Spirit, in the
form of thought, and thus as the unity of the difference.
b. Religion, then, is itself the standpoint of the con-
sciousness of the True, which is in and for itself, and is
consequently the stage of Spirit at which the speculative
content generally, is object for consciousness. Religion is
not consciousness of this or that truth in individual objects,
but of the absolute truth, of truth as the Universal, the
All-comprehending, outside of which there lies nothing
at all. The content of its consciousness is further the
Universally True, which exists on its own account or in
and for itself, which determines itself, and is not deter-
mined from without. While the finite required an Other
for its determinateness, the True has its determinateness,
the limit, its end in itself ; it is not limited through an
Other, but the Other is found in itself. It is this specu-
lative element which comes to consciousness in religion.
Truth is, indeed, contained in every other sphere, but not
the highest absolute truth, for this exists only in perfect
universality of characterisation or determination, and in
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 23
the fact of being determined in and for itself, which is not
simple determinateness having reference to an Other, but
contains the Other, the difference in its very self.
c. Eeligion is accordingly this speculative element in
the form, as it were, of a state of consciousness, of which
the aspects are not simple qualities of thought, but are
concretely filled up. These moments can be no other
than the moment of Thought, active universality, thought
in operation, and reality as immediate, particular self-
consciousness.
Now, while in philosophy the rigidity of these two
sides loses itself through reconciliation in thought, be-
cause both sides are thoughts, and the one is not pure
universal thought, and the other of an empirical and
individual character, religion only arrives at the enjoy-
ment of unity by lifting these two rigid extremes out of
this state of severance, by rearranging them, and bring-
ing them together again. But by thus stripping off the
form of dualism from its extremes, rendering the opposi-
tion in the element of Universality fluid, and bringing it
to reconciliation, religion remains always akin to thought,
even in its form and movement ; and philosophy, as
simply active thought, and thought which unites opposed
elements, has approached closely to religion.
The contemplation of religion in thought has thus
raised the determinate moments of religion to the rank
of thoughts, and the question is how this contemplation
of religion in thought is related generally to philosophy
as forming an organic part in its system.
2. The Relation of the Philosophy of Religion to the
System of Philosophy.
a. In philosophy, the Highest is called the Absolute,
the Idea ; it is superfluous to go further back here, and
to mention that this Highest was in the Wolfian Philo-
sophy called ens, Thing ; for that at once proclaims itself
?4 INTRODUCTION TO THE
an abstraction, which corresponds very inadequately to
our idea of God. In the more recent philosophy, the
Absolute is not so complete an abstraction, but yet it
has not on that account the same signification as is
implied in the term, God. In order even to make the
difference apparent, we must in the first place consider
what the word signify itself signifies. When we ask,
" What does this or that signify ? " we are asking about
two kinds of things, and, in fact, about things which are
opposed. In the first place, we call what we are think-
ing of, the meaning, the end or intention, the general
thought of this or that expression, work of art, &c. ; if
we ask about its intrinsic character, it is essentially the
thought that is in it of which we wish to have an idea.
When we thus ask " What is God ? " " What does the
expression God signify ? " it is the thought involved in it
that we desire to know ; the idea we possess already.
Accordingly, what is signified here is that we have got
to specify the Notion, and thus it follows that the Notion
is the signification ; it is the Absolute, the nature of God
as grasped by thought, the logical knowledge of this, to
which we desire to attain. This, then, is the one significa-
tion of signification, and so far, that which we call the
Absolute has a meaning identical with the expression God.
b. But we put the question again, in a second sense,
according to which it is the opposite of this which is
sought after. When we begin to occupy ourselves with
pure thought-determinations, and not with outward ideas,
it may be that the mind does not feel satisfied, is not at
home, in these, and asks what this pure thought-deter-
mination signifies. For example, every one can under-
stand for himself what is meant by the terms unity,
objective, subjective, &c., and yet it may very well
happen that the specific form of thought we call the
unity of subjective and objective, the unity of real and
ideal, is not understood. What is asked for in such a
case is the meaning in the very opposite sense from that
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION z$
•which was required before. Here it is an idea or a
pictorial conception of the thought-determination which
is demanded, an example of the content, which has as
jet only been given in thought. If we find a thought-
content difficult to understand, the difficulty lies in this,
that we possess no pictorial idea of it ; it is by means of
an example that it becomes clear to us, and that the
mind first feels at home with itself in this content.
When, accordingly, we start with the ordinary conception
of God, the Philosophy of Religion has to consider its
signification — this, namely, that God is the Idea, the
Absolute, the Essential Reality which is grasped in
thought and in the Notion, and this it has in common
with logical philosophy ; the logical Idea is God as He
is in Himself. But it is just the nature of God that He
should not be implicit or in Himself only. He is as
essentially for Himself, the Absolute Spirit, not only the
Being who keeps Himself within thought, but who also
manifests Himself, and gives Himself objectivity.
c. Thus, in contemplating the Idea of God, in the
Philosophy of Religion, we have at the same time to do
with the manner of His manifestation or presentation to
us ; He simply makes Himself apparent, represents Him-
self to Himself. This is the aspect of the determinate
being or existence of the Absolute. In the Philosophy
of Religion we have thus the Absolute as object; not,
however, merely in the form of thought, but also in the
form of its manifestation. The universal Idea is thus
to be conceived of with the purely concrete meaning of
essentiality in general, and is to be regarded from the
point of view of its activity in displaying itself, in appear-
ing, in revealing itself. Popularly speaking, we say
God is the Lord of the natural world and of the realm
of Spirit. He is the absolute harmony of the two, and
it is He who produces and carries on this harmony.
Here neither thought and Notion nor their manifesta-
tion — determinate being or existence — are wanting.
26 INTRODUCTION TO THE
This aspect, thus represented by determinate being, is
itself, however, to be grasped again in thought, since we
are here in the region of philosophy.
Philosophy to begin with contemplates the Absolute
as logical Idea, the Idea as it is in thought, under the
aspect in which its content is constituted by the specific
forms of thought. Further, philosophy exhibits the
Absolute in its activity, in its creations. This is the manner
in which the Absolute becomes actual or " for itself,"
becomes Spirit, and God is thus the result of philosophy.
It becomes apparent, however, that this is not merely a
result, but is something which eternally creates itself, and
is that which precedes all else. The onesidedness of the
result is abrogated and absorbed in the very result itself.
Nature, finite Spirit, the world of consciousness, of in-
telligence, and of will, are embodiments of the divine
Idea, but they are definite shapes, special modes of the
appearance of the Idea, forms, in which the Idea has not
yet penetrated to itself, so as to be absolute Spirit.
In the Philosophy of Religion, however, we do not con-
template the implicitly existing logical Idea merely, in
its determinate character as pure thought, nor in those
finite determinations where its mode of appearance is a
finite one, but as it is in itself or implicitly in thought,
and at the same time as it appears, manifests itself, and
thus in infinite manifestation as Spirit, which reflects
itself in itself; for Spirit which does not appear, is not.
In this characteristic of appearance finite appearance is
also included — that is, the world of nature, and the world
of finite spirit, — but Spirit is regarded as the power or
force of these worlds, as producing them out of itself, and
out of them producing itself.
This, then, is the position of the Philosophy of Religion
in relation to the other parts of philosophy. Of the
other parts, God is the result ; here, this End is made
the Beginning, and becomes our special Object, as the
simply concrete Idea, with its infinite manifestations ;
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 27
and this characteristic concerns the content of the
Philosophy of Religion. We look at this content, how-
ever, from the point of view of rational thought, and this
concerns the form, and brings us to consider the position
of the Philosophy of Eeligion with regard to religion as
this latter appears in the shape of positive religion.
3. The Relation of the Philosophy of Religion to
Positive Religion.
It is well known that the faith of the Church, more
especially of the Protestant Church, has taken a fixed
form as a system of doctrine. This content has been
universally accepted as truth; and as the description of
what God is, and of what man is in relation to God, it
has been called the Creed, that is, in the subjective sense
that which is believed, and objectively, what is to be
known as content, in the Christian Church, and what
God has revealed Himself to be. Now as universal
established doctrine this content is partly laid down in
the Apostolic Symbolum or Apostles' Creed, partly in
later symbolical books. And moreover, in the Protestant
Church the Bible has always been characterised as the
essential foundation of doctrine.
a. Accordingly, in the apprehension and determina-
tion of the content of doctrine, the influence of reason,
as " argumentation " has made itself felt. At first
indeed, this was so much the case that the doctrinal
content, and the Bible as its positive foundation, were to
remain unquestioned, and thought was only to take up
the thoughts of the Bible as Exegesis. But as a matter
of fact understanding had previously established its
opinions and its thoughts for itself, and then attention
was directed towards observing how the words of Scrip-
ture could be explained in accordance with these. The
words of the Bible are a statement of truth which is not
28 INTRODUCTION TO THE
systematic; they are Christianity as it appeared in the
beginning ; it is Spirit which grasps the content, which
unfolds its meaning. This exegesis having thus taken
counsel with reason, the result has been that a so-called
Theology of Eeason l has now come into existence, which
is put in opposition to that doctrinal system of the Church,
partly by this theology itself, and partly by that doctrinal
system to which it is opposed. At the same time,
exegesis takes possession of the written word, interprets
it, and pretends only to lay stress on the understanding
of the word, and to desire to remain faithful to it.
But whether it be chiefly to save appearances, or
whether it is really and in downright earnest that
the Bible is made the foundation, it is inherent in the
very nature of any explanation which interprets, that
thought should have its part in it. Thought explicitly
contains categories, principles, premises, which must make
their influence felt in the work of interpretation. If
interpretation be not mere explanation of words but
explanation of the sense, the thoughts of the interpreter
must necessarily be put into the words which constitute
the foundation. Mere word - interpretation can only
amount to this, that for one word another co-extensive in
meaning is substituted ; but in the course of explanation
further categories of thought are combined with it. For
a development is advance to further thoughts. In ap-
pearance the sense is adhered to, but in reality further
thoughts are developed. Commentaries on the Bible do
not so much make us acquainted with the content of the
Scriptures, as rather with the manner in which things
were conceived in the age in which they were written.
It is, indeed, the sense contained in the words which is
supposed to be given. The giving of the sense means,
however, the bringing forward of the sense into conscious-
ness, into the region of ideas ; and these ideas, which get
determinate character elsewhere, then assert their influence
1 Vemunft Theologie.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 29
in the exposition of the sense supposed to be contained in
the words. It is the case even in the presentation of a
philosophical system which is already fully developed, as,
for example, that of Plato or of Aristotle, that the pre-
sentation takes a different form, according to the definite
kind of idea which those who undertake thus to expound
it have already formed themselves. Accordingly, the most
contradictory meanings have been exegetically demon-
strated by means of Theology out of the Scriptures, and
thus the so-called Holy Scriptures have been made into
a nose of wax. All heresies have, in common with the
Church, appealed to the Scriptures.
&. The Theology of Reason, which thus came into
existence, did not, however, limit itself to being merely
an exegesis which kept to the Bible as its foundation, but
in its character as free, rational knowledge assumed a
certain relation to religion and its content generally. In
this more general relation the dealing with the subject and
the result can amount to nothing more than to the taking
possession by such knowledge of all that, in religion, has
a determinate character. For the doctrine concerning
God goes on to that of the characteristics, the attributes,
and the actions of God. Such knowledge takes posses-
sion of this determinate content, and would make it
appear that it belongs to it. It, on the one hand, con-
ceives of the Infinite in its own finite fashion, as some-
thing which has a determinate character, as an abstract
infinite, and then on the other hand finds that all special
attributes are inadequate to this Infinite. By such a
mode of proceeding the religious content is annihilated, and
the absolute object reduced to complete poverty. The finite
and determinate which this knowledge has drawn into
its territory, points indeed to a Beyond as existing for it,
but even this Beyond is conceived of by it in a finite
manner, as an abstract, supreme Being, possessing no
character at all. " Enlightenment " — which is that
consummation of finite knowledge just described — intends
3o INTRODUCTION TO THE
to place God very high when it speaks of Him as the
Infinite, with regard to which all predicates are inade-
quate, and are unwarranted anthropomorphisms. In
reality, however, it has, in conceiving God as the supreme
Being, made Him hollow, empty, and poor.
c. If it should now seem as if the Philosophy of
Religion rested on the same basis as this Theology of
Reason, or Theology of Enlightenment, and was conse-
quently in the same condition of opposition to the content
of religion, further reflection shows that this is merely an
appearance of resemblance which vanishes directly it is
examined into.
' (a.) For God was conceived by that rationalistic way of
looking at religion, which was only the abstract meta-
physic of the understanding, as an abstraction which is
empty ideality, and as against which the finite stands in
an external fashion, and thus too from this point of view
morals constituted, as a special science, the knowledge of
that which was held to belong to the actual subject as
regards general actions and conduct. The fact of the
relation of man to God, which represents the one side,
occupied a separate and independent position. Thinking
reason, on the contrary, which is no longer abstract, but
which sets out from the faith of man in the dignity of
his spirit, and is actuated by the courage of truth and
freedom, grasps the truth as something concrete, as fulness
of content, as Ideality, in which determinateness — the
finite — is contained as a moment. Therefore, to think-
ing reason, God is not emptiness, but Spirit ; and this
characteristic of Spirit does not remain for it a word only,
or a superficial characteristic ; on the contrary, the nature
of Spirit unfolds itself for rational thought, inasmuch as
it apprehends God as essentially the Triune God. Thus
God is conceived of as making Himself an object to
Himself, and further, the object remains in this distinction
in identity with God ; in it God loves Himself. Without
this characteristic of Trinity, God would not be Spirit,
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 31
and Spirit would be an empty word. But if God be
conceived as Spirit, then this conception includes the
subjective side in itself or even develops itself so as to
reach to that side, and the Philosophy of Eeligion, as the
contemplation of religion by thought, binds together
again the determinate content of religion in its entirety.
(/3.) With regard, however, to that form of contempla-
tion in thought, which adheres to the words of Holy
Scripture, and asserts that it explains them by the aid
of reason, it is only in appearance that the Philosophy
of Eeligion stands on the same basis witli it. For that
kind of contemplation by its own sovereign power lays
down its argumentations as the foundation of Christian
doctrine ; and although it still leaves the Biblical words
standing, yet the particular meaning remains as the
principal determination, and to this the assumed Biblical
truth must subordinate itself. This argumentation accord-
ingly retains its assumptions, and moves within the
relations of the Understanding, which belong to Reflec-
tion, without subjecting these to criticism. But the
Philosophy of Eeligion, as being rational knowledge,
is opposed to the arbitrariness of this argumentative
process, and is the Eeason of the Universal, which
presses forward to unity.
Philosophy is therefore very far removed from being
on the common highway on which this Theology of Eeason
and this exegetical argumentative process move, the
truth rather being that it is these tendencies chiefly
which combat it, and seek to bring it under suspicion.
They protest against philosophy, but only in order to
reserve to themselves the arbitrariness of their ar^u-
0
mentative process. Philosophy is called something
special and particular, although it is nothing else than
rational, truly universal thought. Philosophy is regarded
as a something ghostly, of which we know nothing, and
about which there is something uncanny ; but this idea
only shows that these rationalistic theologians find it
3'2 INTRODUCTION TO THE
more convenient to keep to their unregulated arbitrary
reflections, to which philosophy attaches no validity.
If, then, those theologians, who busy themselves with
their argumentations in exegesis, and appeal to the
Bible in connection with all their notions, when they
deny as against philosophy the possibility of knowledge,
have brought matters to such a pass, and have so greatly
depreciated the reputation of the Bible, that if the trutli
were as they say, and if according to the true explana-
tion of the Bible, no knowledge of the nature of God
were possible, — the spirit would be compelled to look
for another source in order to acquire such truth as
should be substantial or full of content.
(•y.) The Philosophy of Eeligion cannot, therefore, in
the fashion of that metaphysic of the Understanding,
and exegesis of inferences, put itself in opposition to
positive religion, and to such doctrine of the Church
as has still preserved its content. On the contrary, it
will become apparent that it stands infinitely nearer
to positive doctrine than it seems at first sight to do.
Indeed, the re-establishment of the doctrines of the
Church, reduced to a minimum by the Understanding,
is so truly the work of philosophy, that it is decried
by that so-called Theology of Reason, which is merely
a Theology of the Understanding, as a darkening of the
mind, and this just because of the true content pos*
sessed by it. The fears of the Understanding, and its
hatred of philosophy, arise from a feeling of apprehen-
sion, based on the fact that it perceives how philosophy
carries back its reflecting process to its foundation, that
is, to the affirmative in which it perishes, and yet that
philosophy arrives at a content, and at a knowledge
of the nature of God, after all content seemed to be
already done away with. Every content appears to
this negative tendency to be a darkening of the mind,
its only desire being- to continue in that nocturnal
darkness which it calls enlightenment, and hence the
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 33
rays of the light of knowledge must be necessarily
regarded by it as hostile.
It is sufficient here merely to observe regarding the
supposed opposition of the Philosophy of Religion and
positive religion, that there cannot be two kinds of reason
and two kinds of Spirit; there cannot be a Divine
reason and a human, there cannot be a Divine Spirit
and a human, which are absolutely different. Human
reason — the consciousness of one's being — is indeed
reason ; it is the divine in man, and Spirit, in so far
as it is the Spirit of God, is not a spirit beyond the
stars, beyond the world. On the contrary, God is present,
omnipresent, and exists as Spirit in all spirits. God
is a living God, who is acting and working. Religion
is a product of the Divine Spirit; it is not a discovery
of man, but a work of divine operation and creation
in him. The expression that God as reason rules the
world, would be irrational if we did not assume that
it has reference also to religion, and that the Divine
Spirit works in the special character and form assumed
by religion. But the development of reason as perfected
in thought does not stand in opposition to this Spirit,
and consequently it cannot be absolutely different from
the work which the Divine Spirit has produced
in religion. The more a man in thinking rationally
lets the true thing or fact * itself hold sway with him,
renounces his particularity, acts as universal conscious-
ness, while his reason does not seek its own in the
sense of something special, the Jess will he, as the
embodiment of this reason, get into that condition of
opposition ; for it, namely, reason, is itself the essential
fact or thing, the spirit, the Divine Spirit. The Church
or the theologians may disdain this aid, or may take
it amiss when their doctrine is made reasonable ; they
may even repel the exertions of philosophy with proud
irony, though these are not directed in a hostile spirit
1 Die Sache.
VOL. I. C
34 INTRODUCTION TO THE
against religion, but, on the contrary, seek to fathom
its truth ; and they may ridicule the " manufactured "
truth — but this scorn is no longer of any avail, and
is, in fact, idle when once the need of true rational
knowledge, and the sense of discord between it and
religion, have been awakened. The intelligence has
here its rights, which can in no way be longer denied
to it, and the triumph of knowledge is the reconciliation
of the opposition.
Although then, philosophy, as the Philosophy of Be-
ligion, is so very different from those tendencies of the
understanding, which are at bottom hostile to religion,
and is in no way such a spectral thing as it has
usually been represented to be, yet even at the present
day we still see the belief in the absolute opposition
between philosophy and religion made one of the shib-
boleths of the time. All those principles of the religious
consciousness which have been developed at the present
time, however widely distinguished their forms may be
from one another, yet agree in this, that they are at
enmity with philosophy, and endeavour at all hazards to
prevent it from occupying itself with religion ; and the
work that now lies before us is to consider philosophy in its
relation to these principles of the time. From this con-
sideration of the subject we may confidently promise
ourselves success, all the more that it will become ap-
parent how, in presence of all that enmity which is
shown to philosophy, from however many sides it may
come — indeed, it comes from almost every side of con-
sciousness in its present form — the time has nevertheless
arrived when philosophy can, partly in an unprejudiced
and partly in a favourable and successful manner, occupy
itself with religion. For the opposition takes one or
other of those forms of the divided consciousness which
we considered above. They occupy partly the stand-
point of the metaphysic of the Understanding, for which
God is emptiness, and content has vanished, partly the
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 35
standpoint of feeling, which after the loss of absolute
content has withdrawn itself into its empty subjectivity,
but is in accord with that metaphysic in coming to the
result that every characterisation is inadequate to the
eternal content — for this indeed is only an abstraction.
Or we may even see that the assertions of the opponents
of philosophy contain nothing else than what philosophy
itself contains as its principle, and as the foundation of
its principle. This contradiction, namely, that the oppo-
nents of philosophy are the opponents of religion who
have been overcome by it, and that they yet implicitly
possess the principle of philosophical knowledge in their
reflections, has its foundation in this, that they represent
the historical element out of which philosophical thought
in its complete shape has been formed.
III. — THE RELATION OP THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION TO
THE CURRENT PRINCIPLES OF THE RELIGIOUS CON-
SCIOUSNESS.
If at the present day philosophy be an object of enmity
because it occupies itself with religion, this cannot really
surprise us when we consider the general character of
the time. Every one who attempts to take to do with
the knowledge of God, and by the aid of thought to
comprehend His nature, must be prepared to find, that
either no attention will be paid to him, or that people
will turn against him and combine to oppose him.
The more the knowledge of finite things has increased
— and the increase is so great that the extension of the
sciences has become almost boundless, and all regions of
knowledge are enlarged to an extent which makes a
comprehensive view impossible — so much the more has
the sphere of the knowledge of God become contracted.
There was a time when all knowledge was knowledge of
God. Our own time, on the contrary, has the distinction
of knowing about all and everything, about an infinite
36 INTRODUCTION TO THE
number of subjects, but nothing at all of God. Formerly
the mind found its supreme interest in knowing God, and
searching into His nature. It had and it found no rest
unless in thus occupying itself with God. When it could
not satisfy this need it felt unhappy. The spiritual con-
flicts to which the knowledge of God gives rise in the
inner life were the highest which the spirit knew and
experienced in itself, and all other interests and know-
ledge were lightly esteemed. Our own time has put
this need, with all its toils and conflicts, to silence ; we
have done with all this, and got rid of it. What Tacitus
said of the ancient Germans, that they were securi ad-
versus deos, we have once more become in regard to
knowledge, securi adversus deum.
It no longer gives our age any concern that it knows
nothing of God ; on the contrary, it is regarded as a mark
of the highest intelligence to hold that such knowledge
is not even possible. What is laid down by the Christian
religion as the supreme, absolute commandment, "Ye
shall know God," is regarded as a piece of folly. Christ
says, " Be ye perfect, as My Father in heaven is perfect."
This lofty demand is to the wisdom of our time an empty
sound. It has made of God an infinite phantom, which
' is far from us, and in like manner has made human
knowledge a futile phantom of finiteness, or a mirror
upon which fall only shadows, only phenomena. How,
then, are we any longer to respect the commandment,
and grasp its meaning, when it says to us, " Be ye per-
fect, as your Father in heaven is perfect," since we know
nothing of the Perfect One, and since our knowing and
willing are confined solely and entirely to appearance,
and the truth is to be and to remain absolutely and ex-
clusively a something beyond the present ? And what,
we must further ask, what else would it be worth while
to comprehend, if God is incomprehensible ?
This standpoint must, judged by its content, be con-
sidered as the last stage of the degradation of man, in
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 3?
which at the same time he is, it is true, all the more
arrogant inasmuch as he thinks he has proved to himself
that this degradation is the highest possible state, and is
his true destiny. Such a point of view is, indeed, directly
opposed to the lofty nature of the Christian religion, for
according to this we ought to know God, His nature, and
His essential Being, and to esteem this knowledge as
something which is the highest of all. (The distinction
as to whether this knowledge is brought to us by means
of faith, authority, revelation, or reason, is here of no im-
portance.) But although this is the case, and although
this point of view has come to dispense both with the
content which revelation gives of the Divine nature, and
with what belongs to reason, yet it has not shrunk, after
all its abject gropings, in that blind arrogance which is
proper to it, from turning against philosophy. And yet
it is philosophy which is the liberation of the spirit from
that shameful degradation, and which has once more
brought religion out of the stage of intense suffering
which it had to experience when occupying the stand-
point referred to. Even the theologians, who are on
their own ground in that region of vanity, have ventured
to charge philosophy with its destructive tendency —
theologians who have no longer anything left of that
substantial element which could possibly be destroyed.
In order to repel these not merely groundless, but> what
is more, frivolous and unprincipled objections, we need
only observe cursorily how theologians have, on the con-
trary, done everything in their power to do away with
what is definite in religion, in that they have (i) thrust
dogmas into the background, or pronounced them to be
unimportant; or (2) consider them only as extraneous
definitions given by others, and as mere phenomena of a
past history. When we have reflected in this manner
upon the aspect presented by the content, and have seen
how this last is re-established by philosophy, and placed
in safety from the devastations of theology, we shall (3)
38 INTRODUCTION TO THE
reflect upon the form of that standpoint, and shall see
here how the tendency which, taking its departure from
the form, is at enmity with philosophy, is so ignorant of
what it is, that it does not even know that it contains in
itself the very principle of philosophy.
i. Philosophy and the Prevalent Indifference to
Definite Dogmas. «
If, then, it be made a reproach to philosophy in its
relation to religion that the content of the doctrine of
revealed positive religion, and more expressly of the
Christian religion, is depreciated by it, and that it sub-
verts and destroys its dogmas, yet this hindrance is taken
out of the way, and by the new theology itself, in fact.
There are very few dogmas of the earlier system of Church
confessions left which have any longer the importance
formerly attributed to them, and in their place no other
dogmas have been set up. It is easy to convince oneself,
by considering what is the real value now attached to
ecclesiastical dogmas, that into the religious world gene-
rally there has entered a widespread, almost universal,
indifference towards what in earlier times were held to
be essential doctrines of the faith. A few examples will
prove this.
Christ still indeed continues to be made the central
point of faith, as Mediator, Reconciler, and Redeemer ;
but what was known as the work of redemption has
received a very prosaic and merely psychological signifi-
cation, so that although the edifying words have been
retained, the very thing that was essential in the old
doctrine of the Church has been expunged.
/ " Great energy of character, steadfast adherence to
conviction for the sake of which He regarded not His
life " — these are the common categories through which
Christ is brought down, not indeed to the plane of
ordinary everyday life, but to that of human action in
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 39
general and moral designs, and into a moral sphere into
which even heathens like Socrates were capable of enter-
ing.j^Even though Christ be for many the central point
of faith and devotion in the deeper sense, yet Christian
life as a whole restricts itself to this devotional bent,
and the weighty doctrines of the Trinity, of the resurrec-
tion of the body, as also the miracles in the Old and
New Testaments, are neglected as matters of indifference,
and have lost their importance. The divinity of Christ,
dogma, what is peculiar to the Christian religion is set
aside, or else reduced to something of merely general
nature. It is not only by " enlightenment " that Chris-
tianity has been thus treated, but even by pious theo-
logians themselves. These latter join with the men of
enlightenment in saying that the Trinity Was brought
into Christian doctrine by the Alexandrian school, by
the neo-Platonists. But even if it must be conceded
that the fathers of the Church studied Greek philosophy,
it is in the first instance a matter of no importance
whence that doctrine may have come ; the only ques-
tion is, whether it be essentially, inherently, true ; but
that is a point which is not examined into, and yet that
doctrine is the key-note of the Christian religion.
If an opportunity was given to a large number of
these theologians to lay their hand on their heart, and
say whether they consider faith in the Trinity to be-
indispensably necessary to salvation, and whether they
believe that the absence of such faith leads to damnation,
there can be no doubt what the answer would be.
Even the words eternal happiness and eternal damna-
tion are such as cannot be used in good society ; such
expressions are regarded as apprjra, as words which one
shrinks from uttering. Even although a man should
not wish to deny these doctrines, he would, in case of
his being directly appealed to, find it very difficult to
express himself in an affirmative way.
In the doctrinal teaching of these theologians, it will
40 INTRODUCTION TO THE
be found that dogmas have become very thin and
shrunken, although they are talked about a great deal.
If any one were to take a number of religious books,
or collections of sermons, in which the fundamental
doctrines of the Christian religion are supposed to be
set forth, and attempt to sift the greater part of those
writings conscientiously in order to ascertain whether,
in a large proportion of such literature, the fundamental
doctrines of Christianity are to be found contained and
stated in the orthodox sense, without ambiguity or
evasion, the answer is again not a doubtful one.
It would appear that the theologians themselves, in
accordance with the general training which most of them
have received, only attribute that importance which they
formerly assigned to the principle and doctrines of posi-
tive Christianity — when these were still regarded as
such — to these doctrines when they are veiled in a misty
indefiuiteness. Thus if philosophy has always been re-
garded as the opponent of the doctrines of the Church,
it cannot any longer be such, since these doctrines, which
it seemed to threaten with destruction, are no longer
regarded by general 'Conviction as of importance. A
great part of the danger which threatens philosophy
from this side when she considers these dogmas in order
to comprehend them ought to be thus taken away, and
so philosophy can take up a more untrammelled attitude
with regard to dogmas which have so much sunk in
interest with theologians themselves.
2. The Historical Treatment of Dogmas.
The strongest indication, however, that the importance
of these dogmas has declined, is to be perceived in the
fact that they are treated principally in an historical
manner, and are regarded in the light of convictions which
belong to others, as matters of history, which do not go
on in our own mind as such, and which do not concern
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 41
the needs of our spirit. The real interest here is to find
out how the matter stands so far as others are concerned,
what part others have played, and centres in this acci-
dental origin and appearance of doctrine. The question
as to what is a man's own personal conviction only excites
astonishment. The absolute manner of the origin of
these doctrines out of the depths of Spirit, and thus the
necessity, the truth, which they have for our spirits too,
is shoved on one side by this historical treatment. It
brings much zeal and erudition to bear on these doctrines ;
it is not with their essential substance, however, that it is
occupied, but with the externalities of the controversies
about them, and with the passions which have gathered
around this external mode of the origin of truth. Thus
Theology is by her own act put in a low enough position.
If the philosophical knowledge of religion is conceived of
as something to be reached historically only, then we
should have to regard the theologians who have brought
it to this point as clerks in a mercantile house, who have
only to keep an account of the wealth of strangers, who
only act for others without obtaining any property for
themselves. They do, indeed, receive salary, but their
reward is only to serve, and to register that which is the
property of others. Theology of this kind has no longer
a place at all in the domain of thought ; it has no longer
to do with infinite thought in and for itself, but only with
ifc as a finite fact, as opinion, ordinary thought, and so on.
History occupies itself with truths which were truths —
namely, for others, not with such as would come to be
the possession of those who are occupied with them.
With the true content, with the knowledge of God, such
theologians have no concern. They know as little of
God as a blind man sees of a painting, even though
he handles the frame. They only know how a certain
dogma was established by this or that council ; what
grounds those present at such a council had for estab-
lishing it, and how this or that opinion came to predomi-
42 INTRODUCTION TO THE
nate. And in all this, it is indeed religion that is in
question, and yet it is not religion itself which here
comes under consideration. Much is told us of the
history of the painter of the picture, and of the fate of
the picture itself, what price it had at different times,
into what hands it came, but we are never permitted to
see anything of the picture itself.
It is essential in philosophy and religion, however,
that the spirit should itself enter with supreme interest
into an inner relation, should not only occupy itself
with a thing that is foreign to it, but should draw its
content from that which is essential, and should regard
itself as worthy of such knowledge. For here it is with
the value of his own spirit that man is concerned, and
he is not at liberty humbly to remain outside and to
wander about at a distance.
3. Philosophy and Immediate Knowledge.
In consequence of the emptiness of the standpoint
just considered, it might appear as if we only mentioned
the reproaches which it casts upon philosophy in order
to pronounce expressly against such a point of view, and
that our aim, which we do not relinquish, is to do the
opposite of that which it holds to be the highest of all
aims — namely, to know God. Yet this standpoint has an
aspect belonging to its form in which it must really have
a rational interest for us, and regarded from this side, the
recent attitude of theology is more favourable for philo-
sophy. For with the thought that all objective deterrnin-
ateness has converged in the inwardness of subjectivity,
the conviction is bound up that God gives revelation
in an immediate way in man ; that religion consists just
in this, that man has immediate knowledge of God. This
immediate knowing is called reason, and also faith, but
in a sense other than that in which the Church takes faith.
All knowledge, all conviction, all piety, regarded from
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 43
the point of view which we are considering, is based on
the principle that in the spirit, as such, the conscious-
ness of God exists immediately with the consciousness of
its self.
a. This statement taken in a direct sense, and as not
implying that any polemical attitude has been taken up to
philosophy, passes for one which needs no proof, no con-
firmation. This universal idea, which is now matter of
assumption, contains this essential principle — namely, that
the highest, the religious content shows itself in the spirit
itself, that Spirit manifests itself in Spirit, and in fact in
this my spirit, that this faith has its source, its root in
my deepest personal being, and that it is what is most
peculiarly my own, and as such is inseparable from the
consciousness of pure spirit.
Inasmuch as this knowledge exists immediately in
myself, all external authority, all foreign attestation is
cast aside ; what is to be of value to me must have its
verification in my own spirit, and in order that I may
believe I must have the witness of my spirit. It may
indeed come to me from without, but any such external
origin is a matter of indifference ; if it is to be valid,
this validity can only build itself up upon the founda-
tion of all truth, in the witness of the Spirit,
This principle is the simple principle of philosophical
knowledge itself, and philosophy is so far from rejecting
it that it constitutes a fundamental characteristic in it
itself. Thus it is to be regarded as a gain, a kind of
happy circumstance, that fundamental principles of philo-
sophy live even in general popular conceptions, and have
become general assumptions, for in this way the philo-
sophical principle may expect the more easily to obtain
the general consent of the educated. As a result of this
general disposition of the spirit of our time, philosophy
has not only won a position which is externally favour-
able— with what is external it is never concerned, and
least of all where it, and active interest in it, takes the
44 INTRODUCTION TO THE
form of an institution of the State — but is favoured
inwardly, since its principle already lives in the minds
and in the hearts of men as an assumption. For philo-
sophy has this in common with the form of culture
referred to, that reason is regarded as that part of the
spirit in which God reveals himself to man.
1). But the principle of immediate knowledge does
not rest satisfied with this simple determinateness, this
natural and ingenuous content ; it does not only express
itself affirmatively, but takes up a directly polemical
attitude to philosophical knowledge, and directs its
attacks especially against the philosophical knowledge
and comprehension of God. Not only does it teach that
we are to believe and to know in an immediate manner,
not only is it maintained that the consciousness of God
is bound up with the consciousness of self, but that the
relation to God is only an immediate one. The irnme-
diateness of the connection is taken as excluding the
other characteristic of mediateness, and philosophy, be-
cause it is mediated knowledge, is said to be only a finite
knowledge of that which is finite.
Thus this knowledge in its immediacy is to get no
further than this, that we know that God is, but not
what He is; the content, the filling up of the idea of
God, is negated. By philosophical knowledge or cogni-
tion, we mean not only that we know that an object is,
but also what it is ; and that to know what it is, is not
to know it to the extent of possessing a certain know-
ledge, certainty, of what it is ; but more than this, this
knowledge must relate to its characteristics, to its con-
tent, and it must be complete and full and proved
knowledge, in which the necessary connection of these
characteristics is a matter of knowledge.
If we consider more closely what is involved in the
assertion of immediate knowledge, it is seen to mean
that the consciousness so relates itself to its content that
it itself and this content — God — are inseparable. It is
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 45
this relation, in fact — knowledge of God — and this in-
separableness of consciousness from this content, which
we call religion. Further, however, it is of the essence
of this assertion that we are to limit ourselves to the
consideration of religion as such, and to keep strictly to
the . consideration of the relation to God, and are not to
proceed to the knowledge of God, that is, of the divine
content — of what the divine content essentially is in
itself.
In this sense it is stated, further, that we can only
know our relation to God, not what God Himself is ; and
that it is only our relation to God which is embraced in
what is generally called religion. Thus it happens that
at the present time we only hear religion spoken of, and
do not find that investigation is made regarding the
nature of God, what He is in Himself, and how the
nature of God must be determined. God, as God, is not
even made an object of thought ; knowledge does not
trench upon that object, and does not exhibit distinct
attributes in Him, so as to make it possible that He
Himself should be conceived of as constituting the rela-
tion of these attributes, and as relation in Himself. God
is not before us as an object of knowledge, but only our
relation with God, our relation to Him ; and while dis-
cussions of the nature of God have become fewer and
fewer, it is now only required of a man that he should
be religious, that he should abide by religion, and we are
told that we are not to proceed further to get a know-
ledge of any divine content.
c. If, however, we bring out what is inherent in the
principle of immediate knowing, that is, what is
directly affirmed in it, we find it to be just this, that
God is spoken of in relation to consciousness in such
a way that this relation is something inseparable, or, in
other words, that we must of necessity contemplate loth.
It implies, in the first place, the essential distinction
which the conception of religion contains ; on the one
46 INTRODUCTION TO THE
side, subjective consciousness, and on the other, God
recognised as Object in Himself, or implicitly. At the
same time, however, it is stated that there is an essen-
tial relation between the two, and that it is this inse-
parable relation of religion which is the real point, and
not the notions which one may have concerning God.
What is really contained in this position, and really
constitutes its true kernel, is the philosophical Idea itself,
only that this Idea is confined by immediate knowledge
within limitations which are abolished by philosophy,
and which are by it exhibited in their onesidedness and
I untruth. According to the philosophical conception, God
I is Spirit, is concrete ; and if we inquire more closely what
Spirit is, we find that the whole of religious doctrine
consists in the development of the fundamental concep-
tion of Spirit. For the present, however, it may suffice
to say that Spirit is essentially self-manifestation — its
nature is to , be for Spirit. Spirit is for Spirit, and not,
be it observed, only in an external, accidental manner.
On the contrary, Spirit is only Spirit in so far as it is for
Spirit ; this constitutes the conception or notion of Spirit
itself. Or, to express it more theologically, God is essen-
tially Spirit, so far as He is in His Church. It has been
said that the world, the material universe, must have
v spectators, and must be for Spirit or mind ; how much
more, then, must God be for Spirit.
We cannot, consequently, view the matter in a one-
sided way, and consider the subject merely according
to its finiteness, to its contingent life, but inasmuch too
as it has the infinite absolute object as its content. For
if the Subject be considered by itself, it is considered
within the limits of finite knowledge, of knowledge which
concerns the finite. It is also maintained, on the other
hand, that God, in like manner, must not be considered
for Himself, for man only knows of God in relation to
consciousness ; and thus the unity and inseparability of
the two determinations — of the knowledge of God and
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 47
self-consciousness — even presupposes what is expressed in
identity, and that dreaded identity itself is contained in it.
As a matter of fact, we thus find the fundamental
conception which belongs to philosophy already existing
as an universal element in the cultured thought of the
present day. And here it becomes apparent, too, that
philosophy does not stand above its age as if it were
something absolutely different from the general character
of the time, but that it is One Spirit which pervades both
the actual world and philosophical thought, and that this
last is only the true self-comprehension of what is actual.
Or, in other words, it is one movement upon which both
the age and its philosophy are borne, the distinction
being only that the character of the time still appears to
present itself as accidental, and is not rationally justified,
and may thus even stand in an unreconciled, hostile atti-
tude towards the truly essential content; while philosophy,
as the justification of principles, is at the same time
the universal peace-bringer and universal reconciliation.
As the Lutheran Reformation carried faith back to the
first centuries, so the principle of immediate knowledge
has carried Christian knowledge back to the primary ele-
ments. If, however, this process at first causes the
essential content to evaporate, yet it is philosophy which
recognises this very principle of immediate knowledge as
representing content, and as being such carries it forward
to its true expansion within itself.
The want of sound sense which marks the arguments
advanced against philosophy knows no bounds. The
very opinions which are supposed by those who hold
them to militate against philosophy, and to be in the
sharpest antagonism to it, upon examination of their con-
tent exhibit essential agreement with that which they
combat. Thus the result of the study of philosophy is
that these walls of separation, which are supposed to
divide absolutely, become transparent; and that when
we go to the root of things we find that there is absolute
48 INTRODUCTION TO THE
accordance where it was believed that there was the
greatest opposition.
B.
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS.
Before we can proceed to the treatment of our subject
itself, it appears to be indispensable to solve several pre-
liminary questions, or rather to institute an investigation
into these with the view of showing that the possibility
of any such treatment of the subject, and of a rational
knowledge of religion, is made dependent on the result
of this investigation. It appears to be absolutely neces-
sary to examine and to answer these questions, for this
reason, that they have very specially engaged the interest
of thinking men in our day, both in a philosophical and
in a popular connection, and because they have to do
with the principles upon which prevalent opinions re-
garding the religious content, or substantial element of
religion, as also regarding the knowledge of it, are based.
If we omit such examination, it will at least be neces-
sary to prove that this omission is not accidental, and
that we possess the right to do this, since the essential
element of any such examination is included in the science
of philosophy itself, and all those questions can only
find their solution there.
Here, therefore, we have only to look the hindrances
in the face which the culture and opinion of the time, as
hitherto considered, put in the way of our exercising the
right to get an intellectual grasp of religion.
i. In the first place, it is not religion in general that
we have before us, but positive religion, regarding which
it is acknowledged that it is the gift of God, which rests
on higher than human authority, and therefore appears
to be outside the sphere of human reason, and to be
elevated above it. The first hindrance in this connection
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 49
is, that we should be called upon, before proceeding
further, to verify the competence and capability of
reason to deal with the truth and doctrine of a religion
which is supposed to be withdrawn from the sphere of
human reason. Rational or philosophical knowledge
comes, however, and must of necessity come, into relation
with positive religion. It has been said indeed, and is
said still, that positive religion is "for itself," or stands
on its own basis. We do not question its doctrines ; we
respect them, and hold them in honour; on the other
side stands reason, thought, which seeks to grasp its
object intellectually, and these two are supposed not to
come into relation ; reason is not to interfere with these
doctrines. Formerly, it was imagined that the freedom of
philosophical investigation could be guarded in this way.
It was then said, that it was a thing by itself, which was not
to do any harm to positive religion, and its result, moreover,
also was subordinated to the teaching of positive religion.
We do not wish, however, to place the present investigation
on this footing. It is a false idea that these two, faith and
free philosophical investigation, can subsist quietly side by
side. There is no foundation for maintaining that faith in
the content or essential element of positive religion can
continue to exist, if reason has convinced itself of the oppo-
site. The Church has, therefore, consistently and justly
refused to allow that reason might stand in opposition to
faith, and yet be placed under subjection to it. The human
spirit in its inmost nature is not something so divided
up that two contradictory elements might subsist together
in it. If discord has arisen between intellectual insight
and religion, and is not overcome in knowledge, it leads
to despair, which comes in the place of reconciliation.
This despair is reconciliation carried out in a one-sided
manner. The one side is cast away, the other alone held
fust ; but a man cannot win true peace in this way.
The one alternative is, for the divided spirit to reject the
•demands of the intellect and try to return to simple
VOL. I. D
50 INTRODUCTION TO THE
religious feeling. To this, however, the spirit can only
attain by doing violence to itself, for the independence
of consciousness demands satisfaction, and will not be
thrust aside by force ; and to renounce independent
thought, is not within the power of the healthy mind.
Religious feeling becomes yearning hyprocrisy, and re-
tains the moment of non-satisfaction. The other alter-
native is a one-sided attitude of indifference toward
religion, which is either left unquestioned and let alone, or
is ultimately attacked and opposed. That is the course
followed by shallow spirits.
This, then, is the first preliminary question in virtue
of which the right of reason to occupy itself with the
doctrines of religion has to be proved.
2. In the sphere above referred to, it is only main-
tained that reason cannot apprehend the truth of the
nature of God : the possibility of apprehending other
truths is not denied to it ; it is only the highest truth
which is said to be beyond its knowledge. According to
another position, however, it is entirely denied to reason
to. know truth at all. It is asserted that philosophical
knowledge, when it deals with Spirit in its true essence,
in and for itself, with life, with the infinite, only produces
mistakes, and that reason must renounce all claim to
grasp anything of the infinite in an affirmative manner ;
the infinite is destroyed by thought, is brought down to
the level of the finite. This result, in regard to reason,
this negation of reason, is even said to be a result of
rational knowledge itself. Thus it would be necessary
first to examine reason itself in order to ascertain whether
the capability of knowing God, and consequently the
possibility of a philosophy of religion, is inherent in it.
3. It follows from this that the knowledge of God is
not to be placed in the reason which seeks to comprehend
its object, but that the consciousness of God springs only
out of feeling ; and that the relation of man to God lies
within the sphere of feeling only, and is not to be
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 51
brought over into thought. If God be excluded from
the region of rational intelligence or insight, of necessary,
substantial subjectivity, nothing indeed is left but to
assign to Him the region of accidental subjectivity, that
of feeling, and in this case it may well be a subject of
wonder that objectivity is ascribed to God at all. In
this respect, materialistic views, or by whatever other
name you choose to designate them, empirical, historical,
naturalistic, have been at least more consistent, in that
they have taken Spirit and Thought for something material,
and imagine they have traced the matter back to sensa-
tions, even taking God to be a product of feeling, and
denying to Him objectivity. The result has, in this case,
been atheism. God would thus be an historical product
of weakness, of fear, of joy, or of interested hopes,
cupidity, and lust of power. What has its root only in
my feelings, is only for me ; it is mine, but not its own ;
it has no independent existence in and for itself. Therefore
it appears to be necessary, before going further, to show
that God is not rooted in feeling merely, is not merely
my God. For this reason the older metaphysic has
always demonstrated first of all that a God is, and not
merely that there is a feeling of God, and thus the
Philosophy of Religion too finds the demand made upon
it to demonstrate God.
It might seem as if the other sciences had the advan-
tage over philosophy, inasmuch as their material is
already acknowledged, and they are exempted from the
necessity of proving the existence of this material. To
arithmetic the fact of numbers, to geometry that of
space, to medicine that of human bodies and diseases, is
granted from the very beginning, and it is not required of
them to prove, for example, that space, bodies, diseases,
exist. Philosophy, however, seems to labour under the
disadvantage of being obliged, before beginning, to
guarantee an existence to its objects ; if it be granted
without challenge that there is a world, yet no sooner
52 INTRODUCTION TO THE
does philosophy go on to assume the reality of the
immaterial in general, of a Thought and Spirit free from
what is material, and still more the reality of God, than
it is at once taken to task. The object with which
philosophy occupies itself is not, however, of such a
character as to be something merely hypothetical, and
it is not to be regarded as such. Were it so, philo-
sophy, and especially the Philosophy of Eeligion, would
have in the first place to verify its object for itself. It
would have to direct its efforts toward showing it to be
necessary that before it exist it prove that it is ; it
would have before its existence to prove its existence.
These, then, are the preliminary questions which it
seems would have to be solved beforehand, as in their
solution the very possibility of a Philosophy of Eeligion
would lie. For, if such points of view be valid, then
any Philosophy of Eeligion is absolutely impossible, since
in order to prove its possibility these obstacles must in
the first place be removed. So it appears at first sight.
We nevertheless leave them on one side ; and for what
reason we do so will, so far as the principal points
are concerned, be briefly explained, in order that this
difficulty may be met.
The first demand is that reason, the faculty of know-
ledge, should be examined to begin with, before we
advance to knowledge. Knowledge is thus conceived of
as if it were to be got at by means of an instrument,
with which the truth is to be laid hold of. When
looked at more closely, however, the demand that this
instrument should first be known is a clumsy one.
Criticism of the faculty of knowledge is a position of
the Kantian philosophy, and one which is general in
the present time, and in the theology of the day. It
was believed to be a great discovery, but as so often
happens in the world, this belief proved to be self-
deception. For it is commonly the case that when
people have a notion which they consider to be a very
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 53
clever one, it is in connection with it that they show
themselves most foolish, and their satisfaction consists in
having found a splendid outlet for their folly and ignor-
ance. Indeed they are inexhaustible in finding such out-
lets when it is a question of keeping a good conscience
in the face of their indolence, and of getting quit of the
whole affair.
Reason is to be examined, but how ? It is to be
rationally examined, to be known ; this is, however, only
possible by means of rational thought ; it is impossible
in any other way, and consequently a demand is made
which cancels itself. If we are not to begin philoso-
phical speculation without having attained rationally to a
knowledge of reason, no beginning can be made at all, for
in getting to know anything in the philosophical sense, we
comprehend it rationally ; we are, it seems, to give up
attempting this, since the very thing we have to do is
first of all to know reason. This is just the demand
which was made by that Gascon who would not go into
the water until he could swim. It is impossible to
make any preliminary examination of rational activity
without being rational.
Here in the Philosophy of Religion it is more espe-
cially God, reason in fact, that is the object ; for God
is essentially rational, rationality, which as Spirit is in
and for itself. Now in speculating philosophically upon
reason, we investigate knowledge, only we do it in such
a way as to imply that we do not suppose we would
want to complete this investigation beforehand outside
of the object ; on the contrary, the knowledge of reason
is precisely the object with which we are concerned. It
is of the very essence of Spirit to be for Spirit. That is
just what Spirit is, and this consequently implies that
finite spirit has been posited, and the relation of finite
spirit, of finite reason to the divine, originates of itself
within the Philosophy of Religion itself, and must be
treated of there, and indeed in the very place where it
54 INTRODUCTION TO THE
first originates. It is this which constitutes the difference
between a science and conjectures about a science ; the
latter are accidental; in so far, however, as they are
thoughts, which relate to the matter itself, they must be
included in its treatment, and they are in this case no
longer mere chance bubbles of thought.
Spirit in making itself an object gives itself essentially
the form of Appearance or Manifestation, as something
which comes in a higher manner to the finite spirit ; and
it is essentially owing to this that the finite spirit arrives
at a positive religion. Spirit becomes for itself or actual
in the form of mental representation or idea, in the form
of the Other, and for that other for which it is, religion
is produced as something positive. Thus, too, there is
inherent in religion that characteristic of reason in virtue
of which it involves knowledge, in virtue of which it is
activity of comprehension and of thought. This stand-
point of knowledge is included in religion, and so, too,
is the standpoint of feeling. Feeling is the subjective
element; that which belongs to me as this individual,
and because of which it is to myself that I appeal. The
standpoint of feeling, too, in so far as God gives Himself
this ultimate individualisation of This One, of one who
feels, has its place in the development of the conception
of religion, because this feeling has in it a spiritual rela-
tion, has spirituality in it. The determination, too, that
God is, is a determination which is essentially included
in the consideration of religion.
Religion, however, speaking generally, is the ultimate
and the highest sphere of human consciousness, whether
it be opinion, will, idea, ordinary knowledge, or philoso-
phical knowledge. It is the absolute result — it is the
region into which man passes over, as into the domain of
absolute truth.
By reason of this universal character of religion, con-
sciousness must, when in this sphere, have already raised
itself above all that is finite — above finite existence,
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 5;
conditions, ends, interests, as well as above finite thoughts,
finite relations of all kinds. To be actually within the
sphere of religion, it is necessary to have laid these aside.
Yet although even for the ordinary consciousness
religion is the act of rising up above the finite, it usually
happens when philosophy in general, and especially the
philosophy which deals with God, with religion, is attacked,
that in support of this polemical attitude, finite thoughts,
relations belonging to limitation, categories and forms of
the finite are brought forward to the disregard of this
fundamental characteristic. Such forms of the finite are
made points of departure from which to oppose philo-
sophy, especially the highest philosophy, the Philosophy
of Eeligion.
We shall only touch briefly upon this. Immediacy
of knowledge — the fact of consciousness — is, for example,
such a finite form ; such finite categories are the anti-
theses of finite and infinite, subject and object. But
these antitheses, finite or infinite, subject or object, are
abstract forms, which are out of place in such an abso-
lutely rich, concrete content as religion is. In Spirit,
soul — that which has to do with religion — quite other
qualities are present than finiteness, &c. ; and on such
qualities is based all that is essential in religion. These
forms must indeed be employed, since they are moments
of the essential relation which lies at the foundation of
religion, but it is of primary importance that their nature
should have been examined into and recognised long
before. This logical knowledge, which comes first, must
lie behind us when we have to deal with religion scienti-
fically ; such categories must have long ago been done
with. But the usual thing is to employ these as weapons
against the Notion, the Idea; against rational knowledge.
Those categories are used entirely without criticism, in
a quite artless way, just as if Kant's " Critique of Pure
Reason" did not exist, which at least attacked these forms,
and after its own fashion reached the result that it is only
56 INTRODUCTION TO THE
phenomena which can be known by ' means of these
categories. In religion it is not, however, with pheno-
mena that we have to do, it is with ah absolute content.
But those who employ this argumentative kind of reason-
ing seem to think the Kantian philosophers have existed
only to afford opportunity for the more unblushing use of
those categories.
It is entirely out of place, it is indeed preposterous, to
bring forward these categories, such as immediacy, fact
of consciousness, in opposition to philosophy, and to meet
philosophy with the reply that the finite is different from
the infinite, and the object from the subject, as if there
were any one, any philosopher whatever, who did not
know this, or had still to learn such trivialities. Yet
people are not ashamed to parade triumphantly clever-
ness of this sort, as if they had made a new discovery.
We shall here remark only that such characteristics
as finite and infinite, subject and object — and this is
what always constitutes the foundation of that very
knowing and overwise talk — are undoubtedly different,
but are at the same time inseparable too. We have an
example of this in physics, in the north and south pole
of the magnet. It is often said " those characteristics
are as different as heaven and earth." That is quite
correct ; they are absolutely different, but as is already
suggested by the figure just mentioned, they are in-
separable. Earth cannot be shown without heaven, and
vice versa.
It is difficult to enter into discussion with those who
wage war on the Philosophy of Religion and think they
have triumphed over it, for they tell us so bluntly that
immediacy, after all, " is something quite different from
mediation." At the same time they show an incredible
ignorance, and a complete want of acquaintance with
the forms and categories by means of which they make
their attacks and pronounce a final judgment upon philo-
sophy. They make their affirmations quite artlessly, with-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 57
Out having thought over these subjects, or having made
any thorough observation of external nature and of the
inner experience of their consciousness — of their minds
— and of the manner in which these qualities present
themselves there. Keality is not for them something
present, but is something strange and unknown. The
hostile language which they direct against philosophy is
therefore mere scholastic pedantry — the chatter of the
schools — which entangles itself in empty, unsubstantial
categories, while in philosophy we are not in the so-called
" school," but are in the world of reality ; and in the
wealth of its qualities we do not find a yoke under which
we are in bondage, but have in them free movement.
And then, those who attack and disparage philosophy
are, owing to their finite style of thinking, incapable of
even grasping a philosophical proposition ; and though
they may perhaps repeat its words, they have given it a
wrong meaning, for. they have not grasped its infinite-
ness, but have introduced their finite conditions into it.
Thus philosophy is indefatigable, so to speak, and im-
poses upon itself the great labour of carefully investigat-
ing what its opponents have to say. Indeed that is its
necessary course, being in accordance with its conception,
and it can only satisfy the inward impulse of its notion
or conception by getting a knowledge both of itself and
of what is opposed to it (mrum index sui et falsi), but
it ought to be able to expect as a recompense that the
opposition should now, by way of a reciprocal service,
relinquish its hostility, and calmly comprehend its essen-
tial nature. But that is certainly not the result in this
case, and the magnanimity which desires to recognise in
a friendly way the adversary, and which heaps coals of
fire on his head, does not help philosophy in the least ;
for the adversary will not keep quiet, but persists in his
attacks. When we perceive, however, that the antithesis
vanishes like a phantom, and dissolves into mist, we shall
at the same time only render to ourselves and to philo-
58 INTRODUCTION TO THE
sopliical thought what is due, and shall not seek merely
to carry our point as against the other. And indeed to
convince that " other," to exert this personal influence
upon him, is impossible, since he remains wedded to his
limited categories.
The thinking spirit must have got beyond all these
forms of Eeflectiou ; it must know their nature, the true
relation involved in them, the infinite relation, that is to
say, that in which their finiteness is done away with.
Then it will become apparent, too, that immediate know-
ledge, like mediated knowledge, is entirely one-sided.
What is true is their unity, an immediate knowledge
which is likewise mediated, something mediated which
is likewise simple in itself, which is immediate reference
to itself. Inasmuch as the one-sidedness is done away
with by means of such combination, it is a condition of
infiniteness. Here is union, in which the difference of
those characteristics is done away with,1 while they at
the same time being preserved ideally have the higher
destiny of serving as the pulse of vitality, the impulse,
movement, unrest of the spiritual, as of the natural life.
Since it is with religion, with what is supreme and
ultimate, that we are to be occupied in the following
dissertation, we ought now to be in a position to assume
that the futility of those relations has long ago been
overcome. But at the same time, since we do not begin
at the very beginning of the science, but are con-
sidering religion per se, regard must be also had when
dealing with it to such relations of understanding as
are wont to come principally under consideration in con-
nection with it.
With this reference to the following dissertation itself,
we shall now proceed to give the general survey, the
synopsis or division of our science.
1 Aufgehoben = abrogated, annulled, done away with, but also "pre-
served," as below. This is an example of the use of the word in the second
phase of its double meaning.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 59
C.
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT.
There can be but one method in all science, since
the method is the self-unfolding Notion (Begriff) and
nothing else, and this latter is only one.
In accordance, therefore, with the moments of the
Notion, the exposition and development of religion will
be presented in three parts. In the first place, the
notion or conception of religion will be considered in
its universal aspect; then, secondly, in its particular
form as the self-dividing and self-differentiating notion,
that is, under the aspect of judgment,1 of limitation,
of difference, and of finiteness ; and thirdly, we shall
consider the notion, which encloses itself within itself,
the syllogism, or the return of the notion to itself out
of the particularity in which it is unequal to itself,
so that it arrives at equality with its form, and does
away with its limitation. This is the rhythm, the pure
eternal life of Spirit itself; and had it not this move-
ment, it would be something dead. It is of the essential
nature of Spirit to have itself as object, and thence
arises its manifestation. But here Spirit is to begin
with in the relation of objectivity, and in this relation
it is something finite. The third stage is reached when
it is object to itself in such a way that it reconciles
itself with itself in the object, is " with itself," and in
being so has attained its freedom. For freedom means
to be self-contained, or at home with oneself.
But this rhythm, within which our science as a whole,
and the entire development of the Notion moves, re-
appears in each of the three moments specified, since
each of these is potentially totality in its determinate-
ness, until this totality is made explicit as such in
the final moment. Therefore, when the Notion first
1 Ur-theil — separation of subject from predicate.
60 -, INTRODUCTION TO THE
appears in the form of Universality, then in the form
of Particularity, and lastly, in the form of Singularity,
or when the movement of our science as a whole is
that in which the Notion becomes judgment, and com-
pletes itself in the syllogism, in every sphere of this
movement the same development of the moments will
show itself, only that in the first sphere it is held to-
gether within the determinate character of universality,
in the second sphere within that of particularity, where
it exhibits the moments independently, and it is only
on arriving at the sphere of individuality that it returns
to the real syllogism, which mediates itself in the
totality of determinations.
Such, then, is the division of the subject, represent-
ing the movement, nature, and action of Spirit itself,
of which we, so to speak, are only spectators. It is
necessitated by the Notion ; the necessity of the pro-
gression has, however, to present, explicate) prove itself
in the development itself. The division, the different
parts and content of which we shall now indicate in
a more definite way, is therefore simply historical.
I. — THE GENEKAL NOTION l OR CONCEPTION OF RELIGION.
What comes first is the notion in its universal aspect,
what follows in the second place is the determinateness
of the notion, the notion in its definite forms ; these
are indissolubly united with the notion itself, for in
the philosophical mode of treatment it is not the case
that the Universal, the Notion, is put into prominence, to
do it honour, as it were. There are indeed notions or
conceptions of Eight and of Nature which are general
definitions, and which are given a prominent place, and
as to which there is to tell the truth room for doubt.
These are not, however, taken seriously, and so we feel
that it is not these that are of importance, but the
1 Begriff.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 61
particular content itself, the particular subjects. What
is in this connection called the notion, has no further
influence upon this content beyond pointing out in a
general way what is the ground upon which we stand
in dealing with these subjects, and preventing the
introduction of content from any other sphere. The
content, for example, magnetism, electricity, answers to
the subject-matter itself,1 the notion to the formal element.
The conception or notion which is placed in the fore-
ground (as, for example, that of Eight) may, however, in
connection with such a mode of considering the subject, be-
come a mere name for the most abstract, uncertain content.
For the philosophical way of looking at things, too,
the notion occupies the first place, but here the notion
is the content itself, the absolute subject-matter, the
substance, as in the case of the germ, out of which
the whole tree develops itself. All specifications or
determinations are contained in this, the whole nature
of the tree, the kind of sap it has, the way in which
the branches grow ; but in a spiritual manner, and not
pre-formed so that a microscope could reveal its boughs,
its leaves, in miniature. It is thus that the notion
contains the whole nature of the object, and knowledge
itself is nothing else than the development of the notion,
of that which is implicitly contained in the notion, and has
not yet come into existence, has not been unfolded, dis-
played. Thus we begin with the notion or conception of
religion.
i. The Moment of Universality.
In the notion or conception of religion the purely
universal, again, does indeed take the first place ; that
is, the moment of thought in its complete universality.
It is not this or that that is thought, but Thought thinks
itself. The object is the Universal, which, as active, is
Thought. As the act of rising up to the True, religion is
1 Sacbe.
62 INTRODUCTION TO THE
a departing from sensuous, finite objects. If this be-
comes merely an advance to an " Other," it is the false
progressive process ad infinitum, and is that kind of talk
which does not get out of the bit. Thought, however, is
a rising up from the limited to the absolutely Universal,
and religion is only through thought, and in thought.
r God is not the highest emotion, but the highest Thought.
Although He is lowered down to popular conception, yet
the content of this conception belongs to the realm of
thought. The opinion that thought is injurious to religion,
and that the more thought is abandoned the more secure
the position of religion is, is the maddest error of our
time. This misunderstanding originates in a fundamental
misconception of the higher spiritual relations. Thus
in regard to Right, good-will for itself (or as an indepen-
dent motive) is taken as something which stands in con-
trast to intelligence, and men are given the more credit
for true good-will the less they think. Right and
morality, on the contrary, consist in this alone, that I
am a thinking being; that is to say, in the fact that I
do not look upon my freedom as that of my empirical
personality, which belongs to me as this individual, and
in which I might subjugate my neighbour by means of
stratagem or force, but in my regarding freedom as some-
thing that has its being in and for itself, or exists on its
own account, that is, as something Universal.
If we now say that religion has the moment of thought
in its complete Universality in itself, and that the Un-
limited-Universal is supreme absolute Thought, we do not
as yet make the distinction here between subjective and
objective Thought. The Universal is object, and is thought
pure and simple, but not as yet thought developed and
made determinate in itself. All distinctions are as yet
absent, and exist potentially only. In this ether of thought
all that is finite has passed away, everything has disap-
peared, while at the same time everything is included in
it. But this element of the Universal has not as vet
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 63
taken those more explicit forms. Out of this liquid
element, and in this transparency, nothing has as yet
fashioned itself into distinct shape.
Now the further advance consists in this, that this
Universal determines itself for itself, and this self-deter-
mination constitutes the development of the Idea of God.
In the sphere of Universality the Idea itself is, to begin
with, the material of determination, and the progress is
revealed in divine figures, but as yet the second element —
form — is retained in the divine Idea, which is still in its
substantiality, and under the character of eternity it
remains in the bosom of the Universal.
2. The Moment of Particularity, or the Sphere of
Differentiation.
The particularisation, therefore, which is as yet re-
tained in the sphere of the Universal, when it actually
manifests itself outwardly as such, constitutes the Other
as against the extreme of Universality, and this other
extreme is consciousness in its individuality as such. It
is the subject in its immediacy, and with its needs, con-
ditions, sins — in fact, in its wholly empirical, temporal
character.
In religion, I am myself the relation of the two sides
as thus determined. I who think, who arn that which
lifts myself up, the active Universal, and Ego, the imme-
diate subject, are one and the same " I." And further,
the relation of these two sides which are so sharply op-
posed— the absolutely finite consciousness and being on
the one hand, and the infinite on the other — exists in
religion for me. In thinking I lift myself up to the
Absolute above all that is finite, and am infinite con-
sciousness, while I am at the same time finite conscious-
ness, and indeed am such in accordance with my whole
.empirical character. Both sides, as well as their relation,
exist for me. Both sides seek each other, and both flee
6* INTRODUCTION TO THE
from each other. At one time, for example, I accentuate
my empirical, finite consciousness, and place myself in
opposition to infiniteness ; at another I exclude myself
from myself, condemn myself, and give the preponderance
to the infinite consciousness. The middle term contains
nothing else than the characteristics of both the ex-
tremes. They are not pillars of Hercules, which con-
front each other sharply. I am, and it is in myself and
for myself that this conflict and this conciliation take
place. In myself, I as infinite am against or in contrast
with myself as finite, and as finite consciousness I stand
over against my thought as infinite. I am the feeling,
the perception, the idea alike of this unity and this
conflict, and am what holds together the conflicting ele-
ments, the effort put forth in this act of holding together,
and represent the labour of heart and soul to obtain the
mastery over this opposition.
I am thus the relation of these two sides, which are
not abstract determinations, as " finite and infinite." On
the contrary, each is itself totality. Each of the two
extremes is itself " I," what relates them ; and the hold-
ing together, the relating, is itself this which is at once
in conflict with itself, and brings itself to unity in the
conflict. Or, to put it differently, I am the conflict, for
the conflict is just this antagonism, which is not any in-
difference of the two as different, but is their being bound
together. I am not one of those taking part in the strife,
but I am both the combatants, and am the strife itself.
I am the fire and the water which touch each other, and
am the contact and union of what flies apart, and this
very contact itself is this double, essentially conflicting
relation, as the relation of what is now separated, severed,
and now reconciled and in unity with itself.
As representing the forms of the relation of the two ex-
tremes, we shall make ourselves acquainted with (i) Feel-
ing; (2) Sense-perception;1 (3) Idea,2 or ordinary thought,
1 Anschauung, 2 Vorstellung.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 65
Before entering upon this subject, it will be necessary
to get a knowledge of the entire sphere of these relations
in its necessity, in so far as it contains, as elevation of the
finite consciousness to the Absolute, the forms of religious
consciousness. In investigating this necessity of religion,
we are obliged to conceive religion as posited through
what is other than itself.
In this mediation indeed, when it opens for us the
way into the sphere of those forms of consciousness,
religion will present itself already as a result which at
once does away with itself as a result ; consequently it
will present itself as the primary thing, through which
all is mediated, and on which all else depends. We shall
thus see in what is mediated the counter-impact, the
reciprocal action of the movement and of necessity,
which both goes forwards and pushes backwards. But
this mediation of necessity is now to be posited within
religion itself too, so that in fact the relation and the
essential connection of the two sides, which are com-
prised in the religious spirit, may be known as necessary.
The forms of feeling, of sense-perception, and of idea or
mental representation, as they necessarily proceed one
out of the other, are now forced of themselves into that
sphere in which the inward mediation of their moments
proves itself to be necessary, that is to say, into the
sphere of thought in which religious consciousness will
get a grasp of itself in its notion. These two mediations
of necessity, therefore, of which one leads to religion and
the other takes place within religious consciousness itself,
comprise the forms of religious consciousness as it appears
as feeling, sense-perception, and idea or ordinary thought.
3 . The Annulling of the Differentiation, or Worship
(Cultus).
The movement in the preceding sphere is just that of
the notion of God, of the Idea, in becoming objective to
VOL. I. E
66 INTRODUCTION TO THE
itself. We have this movement before us in the language
of ordinary thought, in the expression " God is a Spirit."
Spirit is not something having a single existence, but is
Spirit only in being objective to itself, and in beholding
itself in the " Other," as itself. The highest characteristic
of Spirit is self-consciousness, which includes this object-
tivity in itself. God, as Idea, is subjective for what is
objective, and is objective for what is subjective. When
the moment of subjectivity defines itself further, so that
the distinction is made between God as Object and the
knowing spirit, the subjective side defines itself in this
distinction as that which belongs to the side of fmiteness,
and the two stand at first so contrasted, that the separation
constitutes the antithesis of fmiteness and infiniteness.
This infinitude, however, being still encumbered with this
opposition, is not the true infinitude; to the subjective
side, which exists for itself, the absolute object remains
still an Other, and the relation in which it stands to it is
not self-consciousness. Such an attitude, however, also
involves the relation which is expressed by saying, that
the finite knows itself as a nullity in its state of separa-
tion, and knows its object as the Absolute, as its
Substance. And here the first attitude toward the
absolute object is that of fear; for individuality knows
itself as in regard to the absolute object only as acci-
dental, or as something which is transient and vanishing.
But this standpoint of separation is not the true relation.
On the contrary, it is what knows itself to be a nullity,
and, therefore, something which is to be done away with
and absorbed ; and its attitude is not merely a negative
one, but is in itself, or implicitly, positive. The subject
recognises the absolute substance, in which it has to
annul or lose itself, as being at the same time its essence,
its substance, in which, therefore, self-consciousness is
inherently contained. It is this unity, reconciliation,
restoration of the subject and of its self-consciousness, the
positive feeling of possessing a share in, of partaking in
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 67
this Absolute, and making unity with it actually one's
own — this abolition of the dualism, which constitutes the
sphere of worship. Worship comprises this entire inward
and outward action, which has this restoration to unity
as its object. The expression " worship " is usually taken
merely in the limited sense in which it is understood to
mean only outward public acts, and the inward action of
the heart does not get so much prominence. "We, how-
ever, shall conceive of worship as that action which
includes both inwardness and outward manifestation, and
which in fact produces restoration of unity with the
Absolute, and in so doing is also essentially an inward
conversion of the spirit and soul. Thus Christian worship
does not only include the sacraments and the acts and
duties pertaining to the Church, but it also includes the
so-called " way of salvation " as a matter of absolutely
inward history, and as a series of actions on the part of
the inner life — in fact, a movement which goes forward
in the soul, and has its right place there.
But we shall always find these two sides, that of
self-consciousness, that is, of worship, and that of
consciousness or of idea, corresponding with each other
at every stage of religion. According as the content
of the notion or conception of God or consciousness
is determined, so too is the attitude of the subject to
Him ; or to put it otherwise, so too is self-consciousness
in worship determined. The one moment is always a
reflection or copy of the other, the one points to the
other. Both modes, of which the one holds fast to
objective consciousness only, and the other to pure self-
consciousness, are one-sided, and each brings about its
own abrogation.
It was, therefore, a one-sided view if the natural
theology of former times looked upon God as Object of
consciousness only. Such a mode of contemplating the
Idea of God, although the words " Spirit " or " Person "
might be made use of, could never in reality get beyond
68 INTRODUCTION TO THE
the idea of au Essence. It was inconsistent, for if actually
carried out it must have led to the other, the subjective
side, that of self-consciousness.
It is just as one-sided to conceive of religion as some-
thing subjective only, thus in fact making the subjective
aspect the only one. So regarded, worship is absolutely
bald and empty ; its action is a movement which makes
no advance, its attitude toward God a relation to a
nullity, an aiming at nothing. But even this merely
subjective action has inconsistency inherent in it, and
must of necessity annul itself. For if the subjective side
also is to be in any way determined or qualified, it is
involved too in the very conception of Spirit, that it is
consciousness, and that its determinate character becomes
object to it. The richer the feeling, the more fully
determined or specialised it is, the richer must the
object be for it too. And further, the absoluteness of
that feeling, which is supposed to be substantial, would,
in accordance with its very nature, require to set itself
free from its subjectivity ; for the substantial character
which is supposed to belong to it, is specially directed
against the accidental element of opinion and of inclina-
tion, is in fact something permanent and fixed in and for
itself, independent of our feeling or experience. It is
the Objective, what exists in and for itself. If this
substantial element remains shut up in the heart only, it
is not recognised as the something higher than ourselves,
and God Himself becomes something merely subjective,
while the efforts of subjectivity remain at the most, as it
were a drawing of lines into empty space. For the
recognition of a something higher than ourselves, which
is capable too of being described, this recognition of One
who is undefined, and these lines which are to be drawn
in accordance with such recognition, possess no support,
no connecting element, derived from what is objective,
and are and remain merely our act, our lines, something
subjective, and the finite never attains to a true real
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 69
renunciation of itself ; while Spirit ought, on the contrary,
iii worship to liberate itself from its finiteness, and to
feel and know itself in God. In the absence of that
which is self-existent and commands our obedience, all
worship shrinks up into subjectivity. Worship is essen-
tially made up of dealings with and enjoyment of a
something higher than ourselves, and includes assurances,
evidences, and confirmation of the existence of this higher
Being; but such definite dealings, such actual enjoying
and assurances can have no place if the objective, ob-
ligatory moment be wanting to them, and worship would,
in fact, be annihilated if the subjective side were taken
to be the whole. The possibility of getting out of the
subjective heart into action would thus be as much pre-
cluded as the possibility of consciousness attaining to ob-
jective knowledge. The one is connected in the closest
manner with the other. What a man believes he has to
do in relation to God, corresponds with the idea which
he has formed of God. His consciousness of self answers to
his consciousness, and conversely he cannot believe him-
self to have any definite duties toward God if he neither
have nor suppose himself to have any definite idea of
Him as an Object. Not until religion is really relation,
and contains the distinction involved in consciousness,
does worship attain to a definite form as the lifting up
into a higher unity of the severed elements, and become
a vital process. This movement of worship does not,
however, confine itself to the inner life alone in which
consciousness frees itself from its finiteness, is the con-
sciousness of its essence, and the subject as knowing
itself in God has penetrated into the foundation of its
life. But this its infinite life now develops towards
what is outside too, for the worldly life which the subject
leads has that substantial consciousness as its basis, and
the way and manner in which the subject defines its ends
depends on the consciousness of its essential truth. It
is in connection with this side that religion reflects itself
70 INTRODUCTION TO THE
into worldly or secular life, and that knowledge of the
world shows itself. This going out into the actual world
is essential to religion, and in this transition religion
appears as morality in relation to the State and to the
entire life of the State. According as the religion of
nations is constituted, so also is their morality and their
government. The shape taken by these latter depends
entirely on whether the conception of the freedom of
Spirit which a people has reached is a limited one, 'or on
whether the nation has the true consciousness of freedom.
The more definite characteristics of worship will be
seen to be the moment of presupposed unity, the sphere
of separation, and the freedom which re-establishes itself
in the separation.
a. Worship is thus, in fact, the eternal process by
which the subject posits itself as identical with its
essential being.
This process of the cancelling of the dualism seems
to belong to the subjective side only, but it is posited in
the object of consciousness too. Through worship, unity
is attained ; what is not originally united, however, can-
not be posited or made explicit as such. This unity,
which appears as the act, the result of worship, must be
recognised, too, as existing in and for itself. For what
is object for consciousness is the Absolute, and its essen-
tial characteristic is that it is unity of its absoluteness
with particularity. This unity is therefore in the object
itself; for example, in the Christian conception of the
Incarnation of God.
This self-existent unity, or, put more definitely, the
human form, God's becoming man, is in fact an essential
moment of religion, and must necessarily appear in the
definition of its object. In the Christian religion this
characteristic is completely developed, but it occurs, too,
in inferior religions, even if the only sign of it is that
the infinite is seen in unity with the finite in such a way
that it appears as this particular Being, as a definite
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 71
immediate existence in stars or animals. Further, too, it
must be observed here that it is only momentarily that
God assumes a human or other form of existence, that
He becomes externally manifest, or inwardly reveals
Himself in a dream, or as an inward voice.
This is the moment of presupposed or hypothetical
unity, which is essentially involved in the conception of
God, and in such a way that the object of conscious-
ness (God) exhibits the entire conception of religion
in its content, and is itself totality. The moments
of the conception of religion thus present themselves
here in the character of unification. Each of the aspects
or sides of the true Idea is itself the same totality which
the whole is. The specific characteristics of content in
the two sides are consequently not different in them-
selves, but only in their form. The absolute object
therefore determines itself for consciousness as totality
which is in unity with itself.
&. This totality now presents itself in the form of
separation and of finiteness, which, as representing the
other side, stands over against that totality which is in
unity with itself. The moments of the content of the
entire conception are here posited as separating them-
selves from one another, as differentiated, and conse-
quently as abstract. The first moment on this side of
differentiation is that of potentiality, the moment of
Being which is in identity with itself, of formlessness,
of objectivity, in fact. This is matter as representing
what is indifferent or undifferentiated, as existence of
which all parts are of equal value. Form may be intro-
duced into it, but it remains still in a condition of
abstract being for self. We then call it the World,
which in relation to God appears partly as His gar-
ment, vesture, form, or as something in contrast with
Himself.
Over against this moment of undifferentiated potential
Being there now stands Being-for-self, the Negative in
72 INTRODUCTION TO THE
general, Form. This negative now appears, in its at
first indeterminate form, as the negative element in the
world, while the latter is the positive element, what
subsists. The negativity which is opposed to this sub-
sisting element, to this feeling of self, to this definite
being, to this established existence, is Evil. In contrast
to God, to this reconciled unity of Being-in-itself and
Being-for-itself, appears the element of distinction or
difference. We have on the one hand the world as
positively and independently existing, and on the other
destruction and contradiction in the world ; and here the
questions suggest themselves, which pertain to all reli-
gions based on a more or less developed consciousness,
as to how evil is to be reconciled with the absolute unity
of God, and wherein lies the origin of evil.
This negative, in the first place, appears as the evil in
the world, but it recalls itself into identity with itself,
in which it is the Being-for-self of self-consciousness —
finite Spirit.
This negative which recalls itself into itself is now
once more a something positive, because it relates itself
simply to itself. As evil, it appears as involved in posi-
tive existence. But the negativity which is present for
itself and independently, and not in another which is
regarded as having independent existence of its own, the
negativity which reflects itself into itself, the inward,
infinite negativity which is object to itself, is just the
" Ego." In this self-consciousness, and in its own inner
movement, finiteness definitely appears, and self-contra-
diction is thus incident in it. Thus there is an element
of disturbance in it, evil makes its appearance in it, and
thus is evil of the will.
c. I, however, who am free can abstract from every-
thing ; it is this negativity and isolation which con-
stitutes my essential being. Evil is not the whole of
the subject. On the contrary, this latter has in it also
unity with itself, which constitutes the positive side
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 73
(goodness) and the absoluteness, the infinitude of con-
sciousness of self. It is this ability to abstract from all
that is immediate, from all that is external, which con-
stitutes the essential moment of the isolation or seclusion
of Spirit. This isolation is exempted from the tem-
porariness, change and vicissitude of this world, from evil
and from disunion, and is represented as the absolute-
ness of consciousness of self in the thought of the
immortality of the soul. At first the prominent element
in this thought is continued existence in time ; this
exemption from the dominion and from the vicissitudes
of change is represented, however, as essentially and
originally belonging to Spirit, .and not as being brought
about secondarily by means of reconciliation. And thus
advance is made to the further determination that the
Spirit's consciousness of self is an eternal, absolute
moment in that eternal life in which it is lifted up far
above time, above this abstraction of change, and above
the reality of change, above dualism, when it is taken
up into the unity and reconciliation which is presupposed
as originally present in the object of consciousness.
II. — OF JUDGMENT, OR DEFINITE RELIGION.
If in the first part we have considered religion in its
notion or conception, the simple conception of religion,
the character of the content, the Universal, it is now
necessary to leave this sphere of Universality and go on
to treat of determinateness in religion.
The notion as such is not as yet unfolded ; the deter-
minate qualities, the moments are contained in it, but
are not as yet openly displayed, and have not received
the right distinction or difference which belongs to them.
It is only by means of the judgment (i.e., the act of
differentiation) that they receive this. It is when God,
the Notion, performs the act of judgment, and the cate-
gory of determinateness enters, that we first come to have
74 INTRODUCTION TO THE
existing religion, which is at the same time definitely
existing religion.
The course followed in passing from the abstract to
the concrete is based upon our method, upon the notion,
and not on the fact that much special content is present.
There is a complete distinction between this and our
point of view. Spirit, to which belongs Being which is
absolute and supreme, is, exists only as activity ; that
is to say, in so far as it posits itself, is actual or for itself,
and produces itself. But in this its activity it has the
power of knowing, and only as it thus knows is it that
which it is. It is thus essential to religion not only
to exist in its notion, but also to be the consciousness
of that which the notion is, and the material in which
the notion as the plan, so to speak, realises itself, which
it makes its own, which it moulds in accordance with
itself, is human consciousness. So too, Right, for example,
only is when it exists in the spirit, when it takes pos-
session of the wills of men, and they know of it as the
determination of their wills. And it is in this way that
the Idea first realises itself, having before only been
posited as the form of the notion.
Spirit, in short, is not immediate ; natural things are
immediate, and remain in this condition of immediate
Being. The Being of Spirit is not thus immediate, but
is, exists only as producing itself, as making itself for
itself by means of negation as Subject ; otherwise it
would be substance only. And this coming to itself on
the part of Spirit is movement, activity, and mediation
of itself with itself.
A stone is immediate, it is complete. Wherever there
is life, however, this activity is already to be found.
Thus the first form of the existence of plants is the
feeble existence of the germ, and out of this it has to
develop itself and to produce itself. Finally the plant
epitomises itself when it has unfolded itself in the seed;
this beginning of the plant is also its ultimate product.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 75
In like manner man is at first a child, and as belonging
to Nature he describes this round in order to beget
another.
In plants there are two kinds of individual forms :
this germ which begins, is different from the one which
is the completion of its life, and in which this evolution
reaches maturity. But it is the very nature of Spirit,
just because it is living, to be at first only potential, to
be in its notion or conception, then to come forward
into existence, to unfold, produce itself, become mature,
bringing forth the notion of itself, that which it implicitly
is, so that what it is in itself or implicitly may be its
notion actually or for itself. The child is not as yet a
reasonable person ; it has capacities only, it is at first
reason, Spirit, potentially only. It is by means of educa-
tion and development that it becomes Spirit.
This, then, is what is called self-determination enter-
ing into existence, being " for other," bringing one's
moments into distinction, and unfolding one's self. These
distinctions are no other than the characteristics which the
notion itself implicitly contains.
The development of these distinctions, and the course
of the tendencies which result from them, are the way
by which Spirit comes to itself ; it is itself, however, the
goal. The absolute end, which is that Spirit should
know itself, comprehend itself, should become object to
itself as it is in itself, arrive at perfect knowledge of
itself, first appears as its true Being. Now this process,
followed by self-producing Spirit, this path taken by it,
includes distinct moments ; but the path is not as yet
the goal, and Spirit does not reach the goal without
having traversed the path ; it is not originally at the
goal ; even what is most perfect must traverse the path
to the goal in order to attain it. Spirit, in these halting-
places of its progress, is not as yet perfect ; its know-
ledge, its consciousness regarding itself, is not what is
true, and it is not as yet revealed to itself. Spirit being
76 INTRODUCTION TO THE
essentially tins activity of self-production, it follows that
there are stages of its consciousness, but its conscious-
ness of itself is always in proportion only to the stage
which has been reached. Now these stages supply
us with definite religion ; here religion is consciousness
of the universal Spirit, which is not as yet fully de-
veloped as absolute ; this consciousness of Spirit at each
stage is definite consciousness of itself, it is the path of
the education of Spirit. We have therefore to consider
the definite forms of religion. These, as being stages on
the road followed by Spirit, are imperfect.
The different forms or specific kinds of religion are,
in one aspect, moments of religion in general, or of per-
fected religion. They have, however, an independent
aspect too, for in them religion has developed itself in
time, and historically.
Eeligion, in so far as it is definite, and has not as yet
completed the circle of its determinateness — so far that
is as it is finite religion, and exists as finite — is historical
religion, or a particular form of religion. Its principal
moments, and also the manner in which they exist
historically, being exhibited in the progress of religion
from stage to stage, and in its development, there thus
arises a series of forms of religion, or a history of religion.
That which is determined by means of the Notion must
of necessity have existed, and the religions, as they have
followed upon one another, have not arisen accident-
ally. It is Spirit which rules inner life, and to see only
chance here, after the fashion of the historical school, is
absurd.
The essential moments of the notion or conception of
religion show themselves and make their appearance at
every stage in which religion exists at all. It is only
because the moments are not as yet posited in the totality
of the notion, that any difference between it and its true
form arises. These definite religions are not indeed
our religion, yet they are included in ours as essential,
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 77
although as subordinate moments, which cannot miss
having in them absolute truth. Therefore in them we
have not to do with what is foreign to us, but with what
is our own, and the knowledge that such is the case is
the reconciliation of the true religion with the false.
Thus the moments of the notion or conception of re-
ligion appear on lower stages of development, though
as yet in the shape of anticipations or presentiments, as
natural flowers and creations of fancy which have, so to
speak, blossomed forth by chance. What determines
the characteristics of these stages, however, through their
entire history, is the determinateness of the notion itself,
which can at no stage be absent. The thought of the
Incarnation, for example, pervades every religion. Such
general conceptions make their presence felt too in other
spheres of Spirit. What is substantial in moral rela-
tions, as, for example, property, marriage, protection of
the sovereign and of the State, and the ultimate decision
which rests with subjectivity regarding that which is to
be done for the whole, all this is to be found in an
uneducated society as well as in the perfect state ; only
the definite form of this substantial element differs accord-
ing to the degree of culture which such a society has
reached. What is here of special importance, however,
is that the notion should also become actually known in
its totality, and in exact accordance with the degree in
which this knowledge is present, is the stage at which
the religious spirit is, higher or lower, richer or poorer.
Spirit may have something in its possession without
having a developed consciousness of it. It actually has
the immediate, proper nature of Spirit, has a physical,
organic nature, but it does not know that nature in its
essential character and truth, and has only an approxi-
mate, general idea of it. Men live in the State, they
are themselves the life, activity, actuality of the State,
but the positing, the becoming conscious of what the
State is, does not on that account take place, and yet
78 INTRODUCTION TO THE
the perfected State just means that everything which is
potentially in it, that is to say, in its notion or concep-
tion, should be developed, posited, and made into rights
and duties, into law. In like manner the moments of
the notion or conception are actually present in the
definite religions, in mental pictures, feelings, or imme-
diate imagery; but the consciousness of these moments is
not as yet evolved, or, in other words, they have not as yet
been elevated to the point at which they are the deter-
mination of the absolute object, and God is not as yet
actually represented under these determinations of the
totality of the conception of religion. It is undoubtedly
true that the definite religions of the various peoples
often enough exhibit the most distorted, confused, and
abortive ideas of the divine Being, arid likewise of duties
and relations as expressed in worship. But we must not
treat the matter so lightly, and conceive of it in so super-
ficial a manner, as to reject these ideas and these rites as
superstition, error, and deceit, or only trace back their
origin to pious feeling, and thus value them as merely
representing some sort of religious feeling, without caring
how they may chance to be constituted. The mere
collection and elaboration of the external and visible
elements cannot satisfy us either. On the contrary,
something higher is necessary, namely, to recognise the
meaning, the truth, and the connection with truth ; in
short, to get to know what is rational in them. They
are human beings who have hit upon such religions,
therefore there must be reason in them, and amidst all
that is accidental in them a higher necessity. We must
do them this justice, for what is human, rational in them,
is. our own too, although it exists in our higher conscious-
ness as a moment only. To get a grasp of the history
of religions in this sense, means to reconcile ourselves
even with what is horrible, dreadful, or absurd in them,
and to justify it. We are on no account to regard it as
right or true, as it presents itself in its purely immediate
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 79
form — there is no question of doing this — but we are
at least to recognise its beginning, the source from which
it has originated as being in human nature. Such is the
reconciliation with this entire sphere, the reconciliation
which completes itself in the notion. Religions, as they
follow upon one another, are determined by means of the
notion. Their nature and succession are not determined
from without; on the contrary, they are determined by
the nature of Spirit which has entered into the world to
bring itself to consciousness of itself. Since we look at
these definite religions in accordance with the notion,
this is a purely philosophical study of what actually is
or exists. Philosophy indeed treats of nothing which
is not and does not concern itself with what is so
powerless as not even to have the energy to force itself
into existence.
Now in development as such, in so far as it has not
as yet reached its goal, the moments of the notion are
still in a state of separation or mutual exclusion, so that
the reality has not as yet come to be equal to the notion
or conception. The finite religions are the appearance in
history of these moments. In order to grasp these in
their truth, it is necessary to consider them under two
aspects ; on the one hand, we have to consider how God
is known, how He is characterised ; and on the other, how
the subject at the same time knows itself. For the two
aspects the objective and subjective have but one founda-
tion for their further determination, and but one specific
character pervades them both. The idea which a man
has of God corresponds with that which he has of him-
self, of his freedom. Knowing himself in God, he at
the same time knows his imperishable life in God ; he
knows of the truth of his Being, and therefore the idea
of the immortality of the soul here enters as an essential
moment into the history of religion. The ideas of God
and of immortality have a necessary relation to each
other ; when a man knows truly about God, he knows
So INTRODUCTION TO THE
truly about himself too : the two sides correspond with
each other. At first God is something quite undeter-
mined ; but in the course of the development of the
human mind, the consciousness of that which God is
gradually forms and matures itself, losing more and more
of its initial indefiniteness, and with this the develop-
ment of true se(/-consciousness advances also. The
Proofs of the Existence of God fall to be included also
within the sphere of this ' progressive development, it
being their aim to set forth the necessary elevation of
the spirit to God. For the diversity of the characteristics
which in this process of elevation are attributed to God,
is fixed by the diversity of the points of departure, and
this diversity again has its foundation in the nature of
the historical stage of actual self-consciousness which has
been reached. The different forms which this elevation
of the spirit takes will always indicate the metaphysical
spirit of the period in question, for this corresponds with
the prevalent idea of God and the sphere of worship. If
we now attempt to indicate in a more precise way the
divisions of this stage of definite religion, we find that
what is of primary importance here is the manner of the
divine manifestation. God is manifestation, not in a
general sense merely, but as being Spirit He determines
Himself as appearing to Himself; that is to say, He is
not Object in the general sense, but is Object to Himself.
I. As for manifestation generally, or abstract manifes-
tation, it is Nature in general. Manifestation is Being
for Other, an externalisation of things mutually distinct,
and one, in fact, which is immediate and not yet reflected
into itself. This logical determination is taken here in
its concrete sense as the natural world. What is for an
" Other," exists for this very reason in a sensuous form.
The thought, which is for another thought, which, as
having Being, is to be posited as distinct, that is to say,
as something which exists as an independent subject in
reference to the other, is only capable of being communi-
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 8r
cated by the one to the other through the sensuous
medium of sign or speech, in fact, by bodily means.
But since God exists essentially only as appearing
to Himself, that abstract attitude of man to nature does
not belong to religion ; on the contrary, in religion nature
is only a moment of the Divine, and therefore must, as it
exists for the religious consciousness, have also the charac-
teristic note of the spiritual mode of existence in it. It
thus does not remain in its pure, natural element, but
receives the characteristic quality of the Divine which
dwells in it. It cannot be said of any religion that in it ;
men have worshipped the sun, the sea, or nature ; when
they worship these objects, the latter no longer have for
the worshippers the prosaic character which they have
for ourselves. Even while these objects are for them
divine, they still, it is true, remain natural ; but when
they become objects of religion, they at once assume a
spiritual aspect. The contemplation of the sun, the
stars, &c., as individual natural phenomena, is outside
the sphere of religion. The so-called prosaic manner of
looking at nature, as the latter exists for consciousness
when regarding it through the understanding, betokens a
separation which comes later ; its presence is consequent
on much deeper and more thorough-going reflection. Not
till the spirit or mind has posited itself independently for
itself, and as free from nature, does the latter appear to it
as an Other, as something external.
The first mode of manifestation then, in the form of /
Nature namely, has the subjectivity, the spiritual nature
of God as its centre in a general sense only, and conse-
quently these two determinations have not as yet come
into relation through reflection. When this takes place,
it constitutes the second mode of manifestation.
2. In Himself or potentially God is Spirit ; this is our
notion or conception of Him. But for this very reason
He must be posited too as Spirit, and this means that
the manner of His manifestation must be itself a spiritual
VOL. i. F
83 INTRODUCTION TO THE
one, and consequently the negation of the natural. And
for this it is necessary that His determinateness, the Idea
on the side of reality, be equal to the conception ; and
the relation of reality to the divine conception is com-
plete when Spirit exists as Spirit ; that is to say, when
both the conception and reality exist as this Spirit. To
begin with, however, we see that the form of nature con-
stitutes that determinateness of the conception of God,
or the aspect of reality belonging to the Idea. The
emergence of the spiritual element of subjectivity out
of nature, accordingly appears at first merely as a conflict
between the two sides, which are still entangled with one
another in that conflict. Therefore this stage of definite
religion too remains in the sphere of what is natural,
and in fact constitutes, in common with the preceding
one, the stage of the Religion of Nature.
3. It is actually within the definite religions as they
succeed each other that Spirit in its movement attempts to
make the determinateuess correspond with the notion or
conception, but this determinateness appears here as still
abstract, or, to put it otherwise, the notion appears as
still the finite notion. These attempts, in which the
principle of the preceding stages, namely, Essence, or
essential Being, strives to grasp itself together into
infinite inwardness are: I. the Jewish religion; 2. the
Greek ; 3. the Koman. The God of the Jews is Oneness
or soleness, which as such continues to be abstract unity,
and is not as yet concrete in itself. This God is indeed
God in the Spirit, but does not exist as yet as Spirit.
He is something not presented to sense, an abstraction
of Thought, which has not as yet that fulness in itself
which constitutes it Spirit. The freedom which the
notion seeks to reach through self-development in the
Greek religion, still lives under the sway of the sceptre
of necessity of Essence ; and the notion as it appears in
and seeks to win its independence in the Roman religion
is still limited, since it is related to an external world
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 83
which stands opposite to it, in which it is only to be
objective, and is, therefore, external adaptation to an
end, or external utility.
These are .the principal specific forms which here
present themselves as the modes of the Eeality of Spirit.
As determinate they are inadequate to the notion or
conception of Spirit, and are finite in character, and this
infinitude, namely, that there is one God, this abstract
affirmation, is finite also. This determination of the
manifestation of God in consciousness as pure ideality of
the One, as abolition of the manifold character of external
manifestation, might perhaps be contrasted, as being that
which is true, with the religion of nature, but it is really
only one form of determinateness as against the totality
of the notion of Spirit. It corresponds with this totality
just as little as its opposite does. These definite reli-
gions are not in fact as yet the true religion, and in
them God is not as yet known in His true nature, since
there is wanting to them the absolute content of Spirit.
III. — REVEALED RELIGION.
Manifestation, development, and determination or speci-
fication do not go on ad infinitum, and do not cease
accidentally. True progress consists rather in this, that
this reflexion of the notion into itself stops short, inas-
much as it really returns into itself. Thus manifestation
is itself infinite in nature ; the content is in accordance
with the conception of Spirit, and the manifestation is,
like Spirit, in and for itself. The notion or conception
of religion has in religion become objective to itself.
Spirit, which is in and for itself, has now no longer indi-
vidual forms, determinations of itself, before it, as it
unfolds itself. It knows itself no longer as Spirit in any
definite form or limitation, but has now overcome those
limitations, this finiteness, and is actually, what it is
potentially. This knowledge of Spirit for itself or
84 INTRODUCTION TO THE
actually, as it is in itself or potentially, is the being
in-and-for-itself of Spirit as exercising knowledge, the
perfect, absolute religion, in which it is revealed what
Spirit, what God is ; this is the Christian religion.
That Spirit, as it does in all else, must in religion also
run through its natural course, is necessarily bound up
with the conception of Spirit. Spirit is only Spirit when
it exists for itself as the negation of all finite forms, as
this absolute ideality.
I form ideas, I have perceptions, and here there is a
certain definite content, as, for instance, this house, and
so on. They are my perceptions, they present them-
selves to ine ; I could not, however, present them to
myself if I did not grasp this particular content in
myself, and if I had not posited it in a simple, ideal
manner in myself. Ideality means that this definite
external existence, these conditions of space, of time, and
matter, this separateness of parts, is done away with in
something higher ; in that I know this external existence,
these forms of it are not ideas which are mutually exclu-
sive, but are comprehended, grasped together in me in a
simple manner.
Spirit is knowledge ; but in order that knowledge
should exist, it is necessary that the content of that which
it knows should have attained to this ideal form, and
should in this way have been negated. What Spirit is
must in that way have become its own, it must have
described this circle ; and these forms, differences, deter-
minations, finite qualities, must have existed in order
that it should make them its own.
This represents both the way and the goal — that
Spirit should have attained to its own notion or concep-
tion, to that which it implicitly is, and in this way only,
the way which has been indicated in its abstract moments,
does it attain it. Eevealed religion is manifested reli-
gion, because in it God has become wholly manifest.
Here all is proportionate to the notion ; there is no longer
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 85
anything secret in God. Here, then, is the conscious-
ness of the developed conception of Spirit, of reconcilia-
tion, not in beauty, in joyousness, but in the Spirit.
Eevealed religion, which was hitherto still veiled, and
did not exist in its truth, came at its own time. This
was not a chance time, dependent on some one's liking
or caprice, but determined on in the essential, eternal
counsel of God ; that is, in the eternal reason, wisdom
of God ; it is the notion of the reality or fact itself, the
divine notion, the notion of God Himself, which deter-
mines itself to enter on this development, and has set its
goal before it.
This course thus followed by religion is the true
theodicy ; it exhibits all products of Spirit, every form
of its self-knowledge, as necessary, because Spirit is
something living, working, and its impulse is to press
on through the series of its manifestations towards the
consciousness of itself as embracing all truth.
PAET I
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION
THE PHILOSOPHY OF EELIGION
PART I
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION
WHAT we have to commence with is the question, How '
is a beginning to be made ? It is at least a formal
demand of all science, and of philosophy in particular,
that nothing should find a place in it which has not
been proved. To prove, in the superficial sense, means
that a content, a proposition, or a conception is exhibited
as resulting from something that has preceded it.
But when a beginning has to be made, nothing has as
yet been proved ; for we are not yet in the region of
result, of what is mediated, or established by means of
something else. In dealing with a beginning, we have
to do with the immediate. Other sciences have an easy
part in this respect, their object being something actually
given for them. Thus in geometry, for example, a be-
ginning has been made, for there is a space, or a point.
Here there is no question of proving the object, for its
existence is directly granted.
It is not allowable in philosophy to make a beginning
with "There is, there are," for in philosophy the object!
must not be presupposed. This may constitute a diffi-
culty in regard to philosophy in general. But in the
present case we do not begin at the point where philo-
sophy has its fountainhead. The science of religion is a
science within philosophy ; it assumes, so far, the exis-
90 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
tence of the other divisions of philosophical study, and it
is thus a result. From the philosophical point of view
we are here already in possession of a result flowing from
premises previously established, which now lie behind
us. We may, nevertheless, turn for aid to our ordinary
consciousness, accept data assumed in a subjective way,
and make a beginning from there.
The beginning of religion is, similarly with its general
content, the as yet undeveloped conception of religion
itself ; namely, that God is the absolute Truth, the Truth
of everything, and that religion alone is absolutely true
knowledge. We have thus to begin by treating —
GOD.
For us who are already in possession of religion, what
God is, is something we are familiar with — a substantial
truth which is present in our subjective consciousness.
But scientifically considered, God is at first a general,
abstract name, which as yet has not come to have any
true value. For it is the Philosophy of Religion which is
the unfolding, the apprehension of that which God is,
and it is only by means of it that our philosophical
knowledge of His nature is reached. God is this well-
known and familiar idea — an idea, however, which has not
yet been scientifically developed, scientifically known.
Having thus referred to this development, which has
its justification in philosophical science itself, we shall,
to begin with, accept as a simple statement of fact the
assertion that the result of philosophy is that God is the
absolutely True, the Universal in and for itself, the All-
comprehending, All-containing, that from which every-
thing derives subsistence. And in regard to this assertion
we may also appeal in the first place to religious con-
sciousness, where we find the conviction that God is
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 91
indeed the absolutely True, from which all proceeds, and
into which all returns, upon which 'all is dependent, and
beside which nothing has absolute true self-sustained
existence. This, then, is what constitutes the beginning.
This beginning is, scientifically, still abstract. The
heart may be ever so full of this idea, still in science
it is not with what is in the heart that we have to do,
but with what is definitely considered as object for con-
sciousness, and more strictly for thinking consciousness
which has attained to the form of thought. To give this
fulness the form of thought, of the Notion, is the special
work of the Philosophy of Religion.
a. The beginning as abstract, as the first content,
Universality namely, has thus, as it were, as yet a sub-
jective standing, implying that the Universal is universal
for the beginning only, and does not continue in this
condition of universality. The beginning of the content
is itself to be conceived of in such a way that, while in
all further developments of this content, this Universal
will show itself to be absolutely concrete, rich in matter,
and full of content, we at the same time da not pass
beyond this universality ; that this universality, though
in a sense we leave it behind so far as the form is con-
cerned, inasmuch as it undergoes a definite development,
nevertheless maintains its position as the absolute, per-
manent foundation, and is not to be taken as a mere
subjective beginning.
In so far as He is the Universal, God is for us from
the point of view of development, what is shut up within
itself, what is in absolute unity with itself. If we say
God is that which is shut up within itself, in using such
an expression we are thinking of a development which
we expect to take place ; but the undeveloped condition
which we have called the Universality of God, is not in
regard to the content itself to be taken as an abstract
Universality, outside of which, and as opposed to which,
the particular has an independent existence.
92 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
This Universality is thus to be understood as the
absolutely full, filled up universality, and when we thus
say that God is universal, concrete, full of content, we
imply that God is One only, and not one as contrasted
with many Gods, but that there is only the One, that is, God.
Existing things, the developments of the natural
and spiritual world, take manifold forms, and have an in-
finite variety ; they have a being which differs in degree,
force, strength, content ; but the being of all these things
is not independent, but is supported by, dependent on,
something else, and has . no true independence. If we
attribute a being to particular things, it is only a
borrowed being, only the semblance of a being, not the
absolute self-sustained Being, which is God.
God in His universality, this Universal, in which there
is no limitation, no finiteness, no particularity, is the
absolute Self-subsisting Being, and the only Self-subsisting
Being; and what subsists has its root, its subsistence,
in this One alone.
If the substantial element in this its first form is
understood in this sense, we may express ourselves thus :
God is the absolute Substance, the only true reality.
All else, which is real, is not real in itself, has no real
existence of itself ; the one absolute reality is God alone,
and thus He is the absolute Substance.
If this conception is held to in this abstract fashion,
it is undoubtedly Spinozism. Substantiality, Substance
as such, is as yet not at all differentiated from subjec-
tivity. But the following thought also forms part of the
presupposition thus made. God is Spirit, the Absolute
\ Spirit, the eternally undifferentiated Spirit, essentially at
home with Himself; this ideality, this subjectivity of
Spirit, which is, so to speak, transparency, pure ideality
excluding all that is particular, is just the Universality
spoken of above, that pure relation to self, what is and
remains absolutely at home with itself.
If we use the expression " Substance," it is implied
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 93
that this Universal is not yet conceived of as concrete in
itself: when it is so conceived of, it is Spirit; and Spirit
too always is" this unity with itself, even in its concrete
inner determination — this One Reality, which we just
now called Substance. A further characteristic is that
the substantiality, the unity of the absolute reality with
itself, is only the foundation, one moment in the deter-
mination of God as Spirit. The disparagement of philo-
sophy is connected mainly with this way of looking at
the question. You hear it said that philosophy must be
Spinozism if it is consistent, and that thus it is atheism,
fatalism.
But at the beginning we have not as yet character-
istics which are distinguished, as One and Another ; at
the beginning we are on]y concerned with the One, not
with the Other.
In starting from here we have the content as yet in the
form of substantiality. Even when we say, " God, Spirit,"
these are indefinite words or general ideas. Everything
depends upon what has entered into consciousness. At
first it is the Simple, the Abstract, that enters into con-
sciousness. In this first simplicity, we still have God in
the character of Universality, but we do not remain at
this standpoint.
Still, this content continues to be the foundation ; in all
further development, God never comes out of His unity
with Himself. When He, as it is commonly expressed,
creates the world, there does not come into existence
something evil, Another, which is self-sustained, and
independent.
b. This beginning is an object for us or content in
us ; we have this object ; and thus the question imme-
diately arises, Who are we ? " We," " I," the spirit is itself
something very concrete, manifold. I have perceptions,
I am, I see, hear, &c., all this I am ; this feeling, this
seeing. Thus the more precise meaning of this question
is, which of these forms of consciousness determines the
94 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
shape in which this content exists for our minds ? Is
it found in idea, will, imagination, or feeling ? What is
the place, where this content, this object has its home ?
Which of all these supplies the basis of this mental
possession ?
If we think of the current answers in regard to this,
we find it said that God is in us in so far as we believe,
feel, form ideas, know. These forms, faculties, aspects
of ourselves, namely, feeling, faith, ordinary conception,
are to be more particularly considered further on, and
especially in relation to this very point. For the present
we postpone the search for any reply, nor do we betake
ourselves to what we know by experience, observation,
namely that we have God in our feeling, £c. To begin
with, we shall keep to what we have actually before us,
this One, Universal, this Fulness, which is this ever un-
changeable transparent ethereal element.
If in considering this One we ask, For which of our
faculties or mental activities does this One, this pure
Universal, exist ? we can only point to the corresponding
activity of our mind, the faculty which answers to it,
as the soil or substratum in which this content has its
home. This is Thought.
Thought alone is the substratum of this content.
Thought is the activity of the Universal ; it is the
Universal in its activity, or operation ; or if we express
it as the comprehension of the Universal, then that^ for
which the Universal is, is still Thought.
This Universal, which can be produced by Thought,
and which is for Thought, may be quite abstract ; it
is then the Immeasurable, the Infinite, the removal of
all limit, of all particularity. This Universal, which
is to begin with negative, has its seat in Thought only.
To think of God means to rise above what is
sensuous, external, and individual. It means to rise
up to what is pure, to lhat which is on unity_jyith
itself ; it is a going forth above and beyond the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 95
sensuous, beyond what belongs to the sphere of the
senses, into the pure region of the Universal. And
this region is Thought.
Such, so far as the subjective side is concerned, is
the substratum for this content. The content is this
absolutely undivided, continuous, self-sufficing One, the
Universal ; and Thought is the mode of mind for which
this Universal exists.
Thus we have a distinction between Thought and the
Universal which we at first called God; it is a dis-
tinction which in the first place belongs only to our
reflection, and which is as yet by no means included
in the content on its own account. It is the result
of philosophy, as it is already the belief of religion,
that God is the One true Eeality, and that there is no
other reality whatsoever. In this One Eeality and pure
clearness, the reality and the distinction which we call
thinking, have as yet no place.
What we have before us is this One Absolute : we
cannot as yet call this content, this determination,
religion; for to religion belongs subjective spirit, con-
sciousness. This Universal has its place in Thought,
but its localisation in Thought is, to begin with,
absorbed in this One, this Eternal, this absolute
existence.
In this true, absolute, determination, which is only
not as yet developed, perfected, God remains through
all development absolute Substance.
This Universal is the starting-point and point of
departure, but it is this absolutely abiding Unity, and
not a mere basis out of which differences spring, the
truth rather being that all differences are here enclosed
within this Universal. It is, however, no inert, abstract
Universal, but the absolute womb, the eternal impetus
and source from which everything proceeds, to which
everything returns, and in which everything is eternally
preserved.
96 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Thus the Universal never goes out of this ethereal
element of likeness with itself, out of this state in
which it is together with or at home with itself. It
is not possible that God, as this Universal, can actually
exist along with another whose existence is anything
more than the mere play of appearance or semblance
of existence. In relation to this pure Unity and pure
transparency, matter is nothing impenetrable, nor has
the spirit, the " I," such exclusiveness as to possess true
substantiality of its own.
c. There has been a tendency to call this idea by
the name Pantheism ; it would be more correctly
designated, " the idea of substantiality." God is here
characterised at first as substance only ; the absolute
Subject, too, Spirit, remains substance ; Spirit is not
however substance only, but is also self-determined
as Subject. Those who say that speculative philosophy
is Pantheism, generally know nothing of this distinction ;
they overlook the main point, as they always do, and
they disparage philosophy by representing it as different
from what it really is.
Pantheism, with those who bring this charge against
philosophy, has usually been taken to mean that every-
thing, the All, the Uhiversum, this complex collection
of all that exists, those infinitely many finite things
are God, and philosophy is accused of maintaining that
All is God — that is, this infinite manifoldness of single
things ; not the Universality which has essential being,
but the individual things in their empirical existence, as
they are immediately.
If it be said, God is all this here, this paper, &c.,
then that is certainly Pantheism, as understood by those
who by way of reproach bring forward the objection to
which reference has been made, their meaning being
that God is everything, all individual things. If I say
" species," that too is a universality, but of quite another
kind than Totality, in which the Universal is thought of
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 97
only as that which comprehends all individual existences,
and as that which has Being, that which lies at the
foundation of all things, the true content of all individual
things.
Pantheism of this kind is not to be found in any
religion, and the statement that it is so discoverable is
wholly false. It has never occurred to any man to
say, all is God — that is, things in their individuality or
contingency — much less has it been maintained in any
philosophy.
With oriental pantheism, or more correctly Spinozism,
we shall make acquaintance later on, under the head of
definite religion. Spinozism itself as such, and oriental
pantheism, too, contain the thought that in everything
the divine is only the universal element of a content,
the Essence of things, while at the same time it is also
represented as being the determined or specific Essence
of the things.
When Brahm says, " I am the brightness, the shining
element in metals, the Ganges among rivers, the life in
all that lives, &c.," what is individual is done away
with and absorbed. Brahm does not say, "I a in the
metal, the rivers, the individual things of each kind by
themselves, as such, as they exist immediately."
The brightness is not the metal itself, but is the Uni-
versal, the Substantial, elevated above any individual
form ; it is no longer TO TTO.V, everything as individual.
What is expressed here is no longer what is called
pantheism ; the idea expressed is rather that of the
Essence in such individual things.
All that has life is characterised by the note of time
and space ; it is, however, only on the imperishable
element in this singularity that stress is laid. " The
life of all that lives " is, in that imperishable sphere of
life, the Unlimited, the Universal. When, however, it
is said that everything is God, the singularity is under^
stood in accordance with all its limits, its finiteness, its
VOL. I. G
98 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
perishableness. The origin of this idea of pantheism is
to be found in the fact that stress is laid on the abstract,
not on the spiritual unity ; and then, when the idea
takes its religious form, where only the substance, the
One, ranks as true reality, those who hold these opinions
forget that it is just in presence of this One that the
individual finite things disappear, and have no reality
ascribed to them, and yet they attempt to retain this
reality in a material way alongside of the One. They do
not believe the Eleatics, who say, the One only exists,
and expressly add, and what is not has no existence
whatever. All that is finite would be limitation, nega-
tion of the One ; but that which is not, limitation, finite-
ness, limit, and that which is limited, have no existence
whatever.
Spinozism has been charged with being atheism, but
the world, this All, does not exist at all in Spinozism ;
it has an outward form it is true, we speak of its
existence, and our life is to be in it as thus existing.
In the philosophical sense, however, the world has no
reality at all, has no existence. No reality is ascribed
to these individual things ; they are finite in nature, and
it is plainly stated that they do not exist at all.
Spinozism has been universally charged with leading
to the following conclusions : — If all be One, then this
philosophy maintains that good is one with evil, and
that there is no difference between good and evil, and
with this all religion is done away with. You hear it
asserted that if the distinction of good and evil is not
valid in itself, then it is a inatter of indifference whether
a man be good or bad. It may, indeed, be conceded
that the distinction between good and evil is done away
with potentially, that is, in God, who is alone the true
Keality. In God there is no evil ; the distinction
between good and evil could exist only if God were
Evil; no one, however, would concede that evil is some-
thing affirmative, and that this affirmative is in God.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 99
God is good, and good alone ; the distinction between evil
and good is not present in this One, in this Substance ; it
is with the element of distinction, or differentiation, that
it first enters at all.
God is the One absolutely self-sufficing Being ; in sub-
stance there is no distinction, no element of difference.
With the distinction of God from the world, and especially
from man, there first appears the distinction between
good and evil. It is a fundamental principle of Spino-
zism, with regard to this distinction between God and
man, that man must have God alone as his chief end.
And thus the love of God is law for the element of differ-
ence, that is to say, for man ; this love to God is alone
to be his guide ; he is not to ascribe value to his separate
existence, to his difference in itself, not to desire to continue
in it, but to direct his entire thought towards God alone.
This is the most sublime morality, that evil is non-
existent, and that man is not to allow to this distinction,
this nullity, any valid existence. Man may wish to
persist in this difference, to carry this separation on into
a settled opposition to God — the essentially existing
Universal — and then man is evil. But it is also pos-
sible for him to regard his difference as non-existent,
to place his true being in God alone, and direct his aim
toward God — and then man is good.
In Spinozism, the distinction between good and evil
undoubtedly makes its appearance with reference to God
and man — and it appears in it with this qualification,
that evil is to be regarded as non-existent. In God as
such, in His character as Substance, there is no distinc-
tion ; it is for man that this distinction exists, as does
also the distinction between good and evil.
In accordance with that superficiality with which the
polemic against philosophy is carried on, it is added,
moreover, that philosophy is a system of Identity. It
is quite correct to say that Substance is this one self-
identity, but Spirit is just as much this self-identity.
loo THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Everything is ultimately identity, unity with itself. But
those who speak of the philosophy of Identity mean
abstract Identity, unity in general, and pay no attention
to that upon which alone all depends; namely, the
essential nature of this unity, and whether it is denned
as Substance or as Spirit. The whole of philosophy is
nothing else than a study of the nature of different
kinds of unity ; the Philosophy of Religion, too, is a suc-
cession of unities ; it is always unity, yet a unity which
is always further defined and made more specific.
In the physical world there are many kinds of unity :
when water and earth are brought together, this is a
unity, but it is a mixture. If I bring together a base
and an acid and a salt, a crystal is the result. I have
water too, but I cannot see it, and there is not the
slightest moisture. The unity of the water with this
material is, therefore, a unity of quite a different character
from that in which water and earth are mingled. What
is of importance, is the difference in the character of the
unity. The Unity of God is always Unity, but every-
thing depends upon the particular nature of this Unity ;
this point being disregarded, that upon which everything
depends is overlooked.
What we have first is this divine Universality — Spirit
in its entirely undetermined Universality — for which
there exists absolutely no element of difference. But
upon this absolute foundation (and this we state for
the moment as fact) there now appears that element of
distinction which, in its spiritual character, is conscious-
ness, and it is with this distinction that religion, as such,
begins. When the absolute Universality advances to the
stage of judgment, that is to say, when it proceeds to
posit itself as determinateness, and God exists as Spirit
for Spirit, we have reached the standpoint from which
God is regarded as the object of consciousness, and Thought,
which at the beginning was universal, is seen to have
entered into the condition of relation and differentiation.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 101
B.
THE RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE.
In the doctrine of God we have God before us as
object, simply by Himself. The relation of God to man,
it is true, has a place in it as well ; and while, according
to the prevailing ideas of earlier times, this relation did
not appear to form an essential part of the doctrine,
modern theology, on the other hand, treats more of re-
ligion than of God. All that is required of man is that
he should be religious ; this is the main point, and it is
even regarded as a matter of indifference whether a man
knows anything of God or not; or it is held that religion
is something entirely subjective, and that man has really
no knowledge of the nature of God. In the Middle
Ages, on the contrary, it was the essential Being of God
that was principally considered and defined. We have
to recognise the truth which is involved in the modern
view, namely, that God is not to be considered apart
from the subjective spirit ; this, however, not on the
ground that God is an Unknown, but because God is
essentially Spirit, exists as Spirit which knows. We have
here thus a relation of Spirit to Spirit. This relation of
Spirit with Spirit lies at the foundation of religion.
If, accordingly, we should consider ourselves as ex-
empted from the necessity of beginning with the proof
of the existence of God, it would still remain for us to
prove that religion exists, and that it is necessary; for
philosophy cannot assume its object as given.
It might, indeed, be said that such proof is needless,
and it might be asserted in support of this that all
peoples are religious. But this is only of the nature of
an assumption, and the expression " all " at once involves
us in certain difficulties. For there are peoples of whom
it can scarcely be said that they have a religion ; their
Highest, which they worship in a way, is the sun, the
102 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
moon, or whatever else may strike them as remarkable
in material nature. We have besides, the phenomenon
of a very "advanced" form "of culture which denies the
Being of God altogether, at the same time denying that
religion is the truest expression of the Spirit. Thinkers
of this extreme sort have even seriously maintained that
priests, in instilling a religion into men, are no better
than deceivers, their sole object being to make men
subject to themselves.
A further attempt which has been made to prove the
necessity of religion does not get beyond establishing an
external conditional necessity, in which religion is made
a means, and something practised with a definite end in
view. But religion is thereby degraded to the condition
of something contingent, which has not value on its own
account, but may either be discarded by me or made
use of by me for some definite purpose. The true view,
•which represents the real state of the case and the false
one, are here very close together, and the obliquity or
error in the latter appears to be only a slight displace-
ment, so to speak, of the former.
Both in ancient and modern times you find the idea given
expression to, that a town, state, family, or individual
has been doomed to destruction because they despised the
gods ; that adoration of the gods, on the other hand, and
reverence towards them preserve states, and make them
prosperous ; and that the happiness and advancement of
individuals are furthered by their being religious.
Undoubtedly it is only when religion is made the
foundation that the practice of righteousness attains
stability, and that the fulfilment of duty is secured.
It is in religion that what is deepest in man, the con-
science, first feels that it lies under an absolute obligation,
and has the certain knowledge of this obligation ; there-
fore the State must rest on religion, for it is in religion
we first have any absolute certainty and security as
regards the dispositions of men, and duties they owe to
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 10.3
the State. Prom every other kind of obligation it is
possible to find a way of escape by means of excuses,
exceptions, or counter reasons. Obligations other than
the religious one may be evaded by disparaging the
laws and regulations of the state, or by belittleing the
individuals who govern and who are in authority, and by
regarding them from a point of view from which they are
no longer necessarily objects of respect. For all these par-
ticular obligations have not only an essential existence as
law, but have at the same time a finite existence in the
present. They are so constituted as to invite the in-
vestigation of reflection, and to allow it either to find
fault with or to justify them, and they thus awaken the
criticism of the individual, who can in turn grant himself
a dispensation from them. It is only religion which
suppresses all this subjective criticism and weighing of
reasons, annihilates it, and brings in this infinite, absolute
obligation of which we have spoken. In short, reverence for
God, or for the gods, establishes and preserves individuals,
families, states ; while contempt of God, or of the gods,
loosens the basis of laws and duties, breaks up the ties of
the family and of the State, and leads to their destruction.
These are undoubtedly considerations of the highest truth
and importance, and contain the essential, substantial con-
nection between religion and morality. Now if a deduc-
tion be made from the proposition before us stating as
the result of experience that religion is therefore necessary,
this would be au external kind of conclusion. Possibly,
however, it might only be faulty in respect of the subjec-
tive act of apprehension, no false or misleading turn being
given to the content or matter of the assertion. If,
however, the conclusion be now stated thus : " therefore
religion is useful for the ends set before them by indi-
viduals, governments, states," &c., then an attitude is at
once taken up by which religion is treated as a means.
But in religion we have to do with Spirit, which is
many-sided in its activities. Even the animal organism,
104 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
when attacked by any disease, though its reaction to a
remedy is determined by definite laws, is yet indifferent
to many of its particular properties, so that a choice of
remedies is possible. Still more does Spirit degrade
what it employs as means to a mere matter of detail.
It is then conscious of its freedom to use either one
particular means or some other.
Thus if religion be a means, the spirit knows that it
can make use of it ; knows, too, that it can, however,
have recourse to other means. Indeed the spirit stands
in such a relation to religion that it may, if it likes,
resolve to trust to its own resources. Further, the spirit
has the freedom of its aims — its power, its cunning, the
control of the opinions of men ; these are all means,
and just in the very freedom of its aims, which implies
in so many words that its aims are to be the ultimate
standard, and religion is to be only a means, it has the
freedom to make its own power and authority its object,
and thus to set ends before itself in pursuit of which
it can either dispense with religion or even act in
direct opposition to its behests. The point of import-
ance, on the contrary, is that the spirit should resolve
upon such aims, or should know its obligation to pursue
such as are of value objectively in and for themselves, to
the disregard of others which are more enticing, and at
the sacrifice of particular ends in general. Objective
aims demand the giving up of subjective interests,
inclinations, and ends ; and this sacrifice or negation is
involved in the statement, that the worship of God lays
the foundation of the true weilbeing of individuals,
peoples, and states. Even though the latter be the con-
sequence of the former, yet it is the former which is the
principal thing ; it has its own determination and deter-
minateness, and it regulates the purposes and opinions of
men, which as particular things are not what is primary,
and ought not to be allowed to determine themselves.
Thus a slight turn given to the position of reflection.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 105
alters and entirely destroys its first meaning above
referred to, and makes out of the necessity a mere utility
which, as being contingent, is capable of being perverted.
Here we are concerned, on the contrary, with the
inner necessity, which exists in and for itself ; a neces-
sity to which, indeed, there is no doubt that caprice —
evil — is able to oppose itself; but in this case this caprice
belongs to a sphere outside, attaching itself to the Ego,
which, as free, is able to take its stand on the summit of
its own independent individuality.
Such caprice is no longer connected with the neces-
sity of which we speak ; it is no longer the perversion of
the very notion of necessity, as is the case so long as
necessity is understood merely as utility.
I. — THE NECESSITY OF THE RELIGIOUS STANDPOINT.
The general necessity of the Notion accordingly de-
velops itself in this wise. Ileligion is (i) conceived of
as result, but (2) as a result which at the same time
annuls itself as result, and that (3) it is the content
itself which passes over in itself and through itself to
posit itself as result. That is objective necessity, and
not a mere subjective process. It is not we who set the
necessity in movement ; on the contrary, it is the act of
the content itself, or, the object may be said to produce
itself. Subjective deduction and intellectual movement
occur, for example, in geometry ; the triangle does not
itself go through the process that we follow out in the
intellectual act of demonstration.
Eeligiou, however, as something essentially spiritual,
is by its very existence itself this process and this transi-
tion. In the case of natural things, as, for example, the
sun, we are in presence of an immediate existence at
rest, and in the mental picture or idea we form of it
there is no consciousness of an act of passing over, or
transition. The religious consciousness, on the other hand,
tc6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
is in its very essence the parting from and forsaking of
what is immediate, what is finite ; it is a passing over to
the intellectual, or, objectively defined, the gathering up
of what is perishable into its absolute substantial essence.
1 Religion is the consciousness of what is in and for itself
true, in contrast to sensuous, finite truth, and to sense
perceptions. Accordingly, it is a rising above, a reflect-
ing upon, a transition from what is immediate, sensuous,
individual (for the immediate is what is first, and there-
fore is not exaltation), and is thus a going out and on
to an Other. This does not mean, however, a going on
to a Third, and so on, for in that case the Other would
be itself again something finite, and not an Other. Con-
sequently it is a progress onward to a Second, but of such
a kind that this progress, this production of a Second,
annuls and absorbs itself, and this Second is rather the
First, that which is truly unmediated and unposited or in-
dependent. The standpoint of religion shows itself in this
transition as the standpoint of truth, in which the whole
wealth of the natural and spiritual world is contained.
Every other manner in which this wealth of being exists
must prove itself to be, in comparison, an external, arid,
miserable, self-contradictory, and destructive mode of
reality which involves the ending of truth, and has in
it the note of untruth, a mode of reality which only
returns to its foundation and its source as the standpoint
of religion. By this demonstration, then, it is made
clearly apparent that Spirit cannot stop short at any of
these stages, nor can it remain there, and that it is only
religion which is the true reality or actuality of self-
consciousness.
So far as the proof of this necessity is concerned, the
following remarks may be sufficient.
When it has to be shown in regard to anything
that it is necessary, it is implied that we start from
something else, from an Other. What is here the Other
of the true divine existence is non-divine existence, the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 107
finite world, finite consciousness. Now if we are to
begin from this as the immediate, the finite, the untrue,
and in fact as an object of our knowledge, and as imme-
diately apprehended by- us in its definite qualitative
existence, if we begin in this manner from what is First,
we find that it shows itself, as we proceed, not to be
what it directly presents itself as being, but is seen to be
something which destroys itself, which appears as be-
coming, as moving on to something else. Therefore it is
not our reflection and study of the subject, our judgment,
which tells us that the finite with which we begin is
founded on something that is true. It is not we who
bring forward its foundation. On the contrary, the
movement of the finite itself shows that it loses itself in
something other, in something higher than itself. We
follow the object as it returns of itself to the fountain
of its true being.
Now, while the object which forms the starting-point
perishes in this, its true Source, and sacrifices itself, this
does not mean that it has vanished in this process. Its
content is, on the contrary, posited in its ideal character.
We have an example of this absorption and ideality in
consciousness. I relate myself to an object, and then
contemplate it as it is. The object, which I at once
distinguish from myself, is independent ; I have not made
it, it did not wait for me in order to exist, and it remains
although I go away from it. Both, I and the object, are
therefore two independent things, but consciousness is
at the same time the relation of these two independent
things to each other, a relation in which they appear as
one. In that I have knowledge of the object, these two,
I and the Other, exist for me in this my simple deter-
minate character. If we rightly grasp what takes place
here, we have not only the negative result that the one-
ness and independence of the two is done away with.
The annulling which takes place is not only empty nega-
tion, but the negation of those two things from which I
io8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
started. The non-existence here is thus only the non-
existence of the independence of the two — the non-exist-
ence in which both determinations are abrogated, yet
.preserved and ideally contained.
Should we now desire to see how in this manner the
natural universe and the spiritual universe return to their
truth in the religious standpoint, the detailed considera-
tion of this return would constitute the whole- circle of
the philosophical sciences. We should have to begin
here with Nature ; it is the immediate ; Spirit would in
that case be opposed to Nature, and both, in so far as
they confront one other as independent, are finite.
We may here, accordingly, distinguish between two
ways of considering the matter.
In the first place, we might consider what Nature and
Spirit are in themselves, or ideally. This would show
that potentially they are identical in the one Idea, and
both only reflect what is one and the same, or, we might
say, that they have their one root in the Idea. But this
would still be an abstract way of looking at them, being
limited to what these objects are potentially, and not
implying that they are conceived of according to the Idea
and reality. The distinctions which essentially belong
to the Idea would be left unregarded. This absolute
Idea is the element of necessity, is the essence of both
Nature and Spirit, and in it what constitutes their differ-
ence, their limit and finiteness, drops away. The Essence
of Spirit and of Nature is one and the same, and in
this identity they are nothing more than what they are
in their separation and qualitative existence. It is, how-
ever, our act of knowledge which, in this way of looking
at them, strips these two of their difference, and does
away with their finiteness. It is outside of these limited
worlds that they are limited, and that their limit dis-
appears in the Idea which is their unity. This disap-
pearance of the limit is an abstracting from it which
takes place in our act of cognition or knowledge. We
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 109
do away with the form of its finiteness, and come to its
truth. This way of conceiving of the matter is so far
rather of a .subjective kind, and that which presents
itself as being the truth of this finiteness is the self-
existing Idea — the Substance, according to Spinoza, or
the Absolute, as it was conceived of by Schelling.
Both natural things and the spiritual world are shown
to be finite, so that what is true is the vanishing of
their limits in Absolute Substance, and the recognition
of the fact that this substance is the absolute identity of
the two, of Subjective and Objective, of Thought and
Being. But Substance is merely this identity. The
specific form and quality is taken away by us, and does
not appear in Substance, which is therefore rigid, cold,
motionless necessity, in which knowledge, subjectivity,
cannot find satisfaction, because it does not recognise in
it its own vitality and distinctions. This phenomenon
is seen in all ordinary acts of devotion. We rise above
fiuiteness, we forget it ; but yet it is not truly done
away with simply because we have forgotten it.
The second method consists in a recognition of the
necessity by which the self-abrogation of the finite,
and the positing of the Absolute, take place objectively.
It must be shown of Nature and Spirit that they, in
accordance with their notion, abrogate or annul them-
selves, and their finiteness must not be taken from them
merely by a subjective removal of their limits. Here
then we have the movement of thought, which is like-
wise the movement of the thing itself, or true reality,
and it is the very process of Nature and of Spirit out of
which proceeds the True.
a. We have now, therefore, to consider Nature as it
really is in itself — as the process of which the transition
to Spirit is the ultimate truth, so that Spirit proves
itself to be the truth of Nature. It is the essential
character of Nature to sacrifice itself, to consume itself,
.so that the Psyche comes forth out of this burnt-offering
no THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
and the Idea rises into its proper element, into its own
ethereality. This sacrifice of Nature is its process, and
it appears in a more definite form as an advance through
a series of graduated stages, iu which the differences
are present in the form of mutual exclusion. The con-
nection is something purely internal. The moments,
through which the Idea runs its course in the web or
i/ garment of Nature, are a series of independent forms.
Nature is the Idea potentially, and only potentially, and
the peculiar mode of its existence is to be outside of
itself, in perfect externality. The nature of its progress
is, more chiefly speaking, this, that the Notion which is
enclosed in it breaks through its covering, absorbs the
outer crust of its externality, idealises it, and while ren-
dering the coating of the crystal transparent, is itself
revealed to view. The indwelling Notion becomes ex->
ternal, or conversely, Nature immerses itself in itself,
and what is external constitutes itself a mode of the
Notion. Thus an externality comes into view which is
itself ideal, and is held in the unity of the Notion.
This is the truth of Nature, namely, Consciousness. In
consciousness I am the Notion ; and tliat which is for
me, of which I have a consciousness, is, in short, my
existence. In nature, what exists is not consciously
known ; it is merely something that is external, and it
is Spirit which first knows the externality and posits it
as identical with itself. In sensation, which is the cul-
minating point and the end of Nature, an independent
existence, a being for self, is already inherent, so that
the definite character, which a thing has, is at the same
time ideal, and is taken back into the Subject. The
qualities of a stone are mutually exclusive, and the
notion or conception we form of it is not in the stone.
In sensation, on the other hand, external qualities do not
exist as such, but are reflected into themselves, and here
Soul, subjectivity, begins. And now the identity, which
as "ravitation is only impulse and a striving after some-
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION in
tiling which ought to be, has come into existence. In
gravitation there is always an element of mutual exclu-
sion still remaining, the different points repel one another,
and this one point, namely, sensation — the being in self
— does not come forward into existence. But the whole
force and life of Nature is ever pressing on towards
sensation and towards Spirit. While, however, in this
progress Spirit appears as necessary through Nature, and
as mediated through Nature, yet this mediation is of
such a kind that it at once abrogates itself. What pro-
ceeds out of the mediation shows itself as the foundation
and the truth of that out of which it has proceeded.
To philosophical knowledge the advance is a stream going
in opposite directions, leading forward to what is Other
than itself, but at the same time working backwards in
such a way that that which appears as the last, as
founded on what precedes, shows itself rather to be the
first — the foundation.
&. Spirit itself is, to begin with, immediate ; it is in
the process of coming to itself that it becomes for itself,
or self-conscious, and it is its very life to become for
itself, or self-conscious, by means of itself. In this pro-
cess it is essential to distinguish between two aspects
presented by Spirit; first, what Spirit is in and for itself,
and, secondly, its finiteness. First of all, Spirit is without
relation, ideal, enclosed in the Idea ; in its second aspect,
Spirit in its finiteness is consciousness, and since what is
Other than itself exists for it, stands in an attitude of
relation. Nature is only appearance ; it is when we think
and reflect that Nature is for us Idea ; therefore this which
is its own transfiguration, that is, Spirit, is something
found outside of it. The essential nature of Spirit con-
sists, on the contrary, in this, that the Idea lies in Spirit
itself, and that the Absolute, that which is true in and
for itself, exists for Spirit. In its immediacy Spirit is
still finite, and this finiteness is characterised by the fact
that in the first place what it is in and for itself, or
H2 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
essentially, is distinguished from that which is present
to its consciousness. But its essential nature and its
infinitude consist in this, that its consciousness and its
Idea absolutely correspond. This perfecting of Spirit,
and this effacing of the differences of that relation, may
be conceived of in accordance with the twofold aspect of
its essential existence and of its actual consciousness.
At first the two are distinguished ; what it is essentially
does not exist for consciousness, and this its essential
existence still wears for Spirit an aspect of otherness or
strangeness. But the two stand in a relation of recipro-
city, so that the advance of the one is at the same time
the perfecting of the other. In the " Phenomenology of
Spirit," Spirit is considered in its phenomenal existence
as consciousness, and the necessity of its advance till it
reaches the absolute standpoint is demonstrated. The
forms assumed by Spirit, the stages which it produces,
are there treated of as they present themselves in its
consciousness. What, however. Spirit knows, what Spirit
as consciousness is, is one thing ; the necessary nature of
that which Spirit knows, and which exists for Spirit, is
another. The former, namely the fact that its world
exists for Spirit, is, as the word implies, a mere fact of
existence, and appears therefore as contingent. The
latter, the necessity, namely, by which this world has
arisen for it, does not exist for Spirit at this stage of
consciousness. So far as Spirit is concerned it takes
place secretly, it exists only for philosophical contempla-
tion, and belongs to the development of that which Spirit
is according to its notion or conception. In this develop-
ment a stage is now reached where Spirit attains to ab-
solute consciousness, at which rationality exists for it as
a world ; and while on the other hand as consciousness it
develops itself towards a consciousness of the essential
nature1 of the world, it is here the point is reached,
where the two modes, which were at first different,
1 An-und Fiirsichseyns.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 113
coincide. The perfect form of consciousness is reached
when it becomes conscious of the true object, and the
object, what is substantial, Substance, reaches its perfect
or completed 'stage when it exists for itself, that is, when
it distinguishes itself from itself and has itself as object.
Consciousness forces itself on to consciousness of the
Substantial, and this latter, which is the notion of Spirit,
forces itself on to phenomenal existence and to a relation
in which it exists as self-conscious or for itself. This
final stage, where the movement of both sides is brought
into harmony, is the moral world, the State. Here the
freedom of the Spirit, which proceeds on its way in-
dependent as the sun, exists as a present, realised object,
as a necessity and a concretely existing world. Here
consciousness likewise attains its perfect state, and each
man finds himself provided in this world of the State
with all he needs, and has his freedom in it. Conscious-
ness, or being-for-self, and the essential being of Spirit
have thus attained the self-same goal.
c. But this manifestation of the Divine Life is itself
still in the region of finiteness, and the abrogation of
this finiteness constitutes the religious standpoint, where
God is Object of consciousness as absolute Power and
Substance into which the whole wealth of the natural as
of the spiritual world has returned. The religious point
of view, as representing the unfolding of the natural and
spiritual universe, shows itself in this progressive move-
ment as the absolutely true and primary, which has
nothing lying behind it as a permanent presupposition,
but has absorbed everything into itself. The require-
ments of necessity indeed imply that this entire wealth
of the natural and spiritual world should bury itself in
its truth, namely, in the Universal which exists in and
for itself. But this Universal, since it is essentially
determined to particularity, and as concrete, as Idea, is
essentially self-repulsion, develops particularity or deter-
minateness out of itself, and posits itself for consciousness.
VOL. I. H
H4 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
The forms of this development and self-determination
of the Universal are the principal moments in logic, and
these likewise constitute the form of the whole above-
mentioned sphere of being. The development of God in
Himself is consequently the same logical necessity as
that of the Universe, and this latter is only in so far in-
herently divine as it is at every stage the development
of this form.
To begin with, this development is, it is true, different
in each case in respect of the matter (Stoff), since, when
it proceeds in an element of pure universality, it yields
only Divine forms x and moments ; while in the region of
finiteness, on the other hand, it yields finite forms l and
finite spheres of existence. Thus this matter and its
forms are so far quite different, regardless of the fact
that the form of the necessity is the same. Further,
however, these two elements (Stoffe), the development of
God in Himself and the development of the Universe, are
not absolutely different. The Divine Idea signifies that
it is the Absolute Subject, the truth of the universum of
the natural and spiritual world, and not merely an ab-
stract Other. Therefore the matter is the same in both
cases. It is the intellectual divine world, the divine life
in itself, which develops itself; but the spheres of its life
are the same as those of the world life. This latter,
which is the divine life in the mode of Appearance, or
phenomenal existence, in the form of finiteness, is looked
at in that eternal life in its eternal form and truth, sub
specie ceterni. Thus we have finite consciousness, finite
world, nature, that which presents itself in the phenomenal
world. It is this, in fact, which constitutes the anti-
thesis of the Other and the Idea. The Other of the simple
Idea which exists as yet in its substantiality, appears, too,
in God, but there retains His attribute of eternity, and
continues to abide in love and in the divine condition.
This Other, which remains in the condition of what has
1 Gestaltungen.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 115
independent essential being, being in and for self, is, how-
ever, the truth of the Other as it appears in the form of
the finite world, and as finite consciousness. The ele-
ment or matter, the necessity of which we have con-
sidered, is therefore essentially the same, whether it
presents itself in the Divine Idea as existing absolutely,
or whether it appears as the wealth of the finite world ;
for the finite world has its true and ideal existence only
in that world of the Idea.
The necessity which appeared to lie behind and out-
side of the religious standpoint, when the latter was
deduced from the preceding stages of the natural and
spiritual world, we now see to be inherent in itself, and
it is thus to be set down as its own inner form and de-
velopment. In passing on to this development, we ac-
cordingly begin again with the form of Appearance or
phenomenal existence, and in the first place we shall
consider Consciousness as it here appears in a condition
of relation, and fashions and develops the forms of this
relation until the inner necessity develops and attains
completeness in the notion itself.
II. — THE FORMS OF KELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS.
What we have first to consider in the sphere in which
the religious spirit manifests itself is the diversity of
form assumed by the religious attitude. These forms,
being of a psychological kind, belong to the region of
finite spirit. What is common to all these, to begin
with, is the consciousness of God ; and this is not con-
sciousness only, but is, more correctly speaking, certainty
too. The more definite form assumed by this certainty
is faith — certainty, that is, so far as it is present in faith,
or so far as this knowledge of God is feeling, and exists
in feeling. This has reference to the subjective side.
In the second place, we have to consider the objective
side, the mode of the content or object. The form iu
H6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
which, in the first instance, God exists for us, is the
mode of sense-perception, of idea, or ordinary thought,
finally, the form of thought as such.
What comes first, therefore, is the consciousness of God
in general — the fact that He is an Object to us, that
in short we have ideas of Him. But this consciousness
does not only mean that we have an object and an idea,
but also that this content exists, and is not merely an
idea. That is the certainty of God.
The term idea, or the fact that a thing is an object in
consciousness, means that this content is in me, is mi'ne.
I may have ideas of objects which are wholly fictitious
and fanciful ; what constitutes the idea here is in such
a case my own, but only my own ; it exists merely as an
idea ; I am at the same time aware that the content here
has no existence. In dreams, too, I exist as consciousness,
I have objects in my mind, but they have no existence.
But we so conceive of the consciousness of God that
the content is our idea, and at the same time exists ;
that is, the content is not merely mine, is not merely in
the subject, in myself, in my idea and knowledge, but has
an absolute existence of its own, exists in and for itself.
This is essentially involved in the content itself in this
case. God is this Universality which, has an absolute
existence of its own, and does not exist merely for me ;
it is outside of me, independent of me.
There are thus two points bound up together here.
This content is at once independent and at the same time
inseparable from me ; that is, it is mine, and yet it is
just as much not mine.
Certainty is this immediate relation between the con-
tent and myself. If I desire to express such certainty in
a forcible manner, I say " I am as certain of this as of
my own existence." Both (the certainty of this external
Being and the certainty of myself) are one certainty, and
I would do away with my own Being, I should have no
knowledge of myself if I were to do away with that
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 117
Being. This unity thus involved in the certainty is the
inseparability from me of this content which yet is differ-
rent from me- and myself ; it is the inseparability of two
things which are yet distinguished from one another.
It is possible to stop here, and it has even been main-
tained that we are compelled to stop at this certainty.
A distinction, however, at once suggests itself to people's
minds here, and it is one which is made in connection
with everything. A thing, it is said, may be certain, but
it is another question whether it is true. The truth is
here opposed to the certainty ; from the fact that a thing
is certain, it does not necessarily follow that it is true.
The immediate form of this certainty is that of faith.
Faith, indeed, directly involves an antithesis ; and this
antithesis is more or less indefinite. It is usual to put
faith in contrast with knowledge. Now, if it be wholly
opposed to knowledge, we get an empty antithesis. What
I believe, I also know ; it is contained in my conscious-
ness. Faith is a form of knowledge, but by knowledge
is usually understood a mediated knowledge, a know-
ledge involving clear apprehension.
To put it more definitely, certainty is called faith,
partly in so far as this is not an immediate, sensuous
certainty, and partly, too, in so far as this knowledge is
not a knowledge of the necessity or necessary nature of
a content. What I see immediately before me, that I
know ; I do not believe that there is a sky above me ; I
see it. On the other hand, if I have rational insight into
the necessity of a thing, in this case, too, I do not say " I
believe," as, for example, in the theorem of Pythagoras.
In this case it is assumed that a person does not merely
accept the evidence of a thing on authority, but that he
has seen into its truth for himself.
In recent times, faith has been taken to mean a cer-
tainty which stands in contrast with the perception of
the necessary nature of an object. This, especially, is
the meaning attached to faith by Jacobi. Thus, says
H'8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Jacobi, we only believe that we have a body, we do not
know it. Here knowledge has the more restricted
meaning of knowledge of necessity. When I say " I
see this," — " this," says Jacobi, is only a belief, for I
perceive, I feel ; and such sensuous knowledge is entirely
immediate and unmediated, it is no reasoned principle.
Here faith has in fact the meaning of immediate certainty.
Thus the expression " faith " is principally used to
express the certainty that a God exists, in so far as we
do not have any perception of the necessity of what con-
stitutes God. In so far as the necessity of the content,
its proved existence, is called the Objective, objective
knowledge, or cognition, so far is faith something sub-
jective. We believe in God in so far as we have not a
perception of the necessity of this content which implies
that He is what He is.
It is customary to say that we must believe in God,
because we have no immediate or sensuous perception of
Him. We speak, it is true, of grounds or reasons for belief,
but language of this sort is inappropriate ; for if I have
grounds, and in fact objective, proper grounds, then the
existence of the object is for me proved. The grounds
themselves, however, may be of a subjective kind, and
in this case I simply let my knowledge pass as proved
knowledge, and in so far as these grounds are subjective,
I speak of faith.
The first, the simplest, and as yet most abstract form
of this subjective method of proof is this, that in the
being of the Ego, the being of the object, too, is con-
tained. This proof and this mode of the object's ap-
pearance is given as the first and immediate form, in
Feeling.
i . The Form of Feeling.
In regard to this, we find, to begin with, that the
following conclusions hold good.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 119
a. We have knowledge of God, and, in fact, imme-
diate knowledge. We are not to seek to comprehend
God, it is said, we are not to argue about God, because
rational knowledge has proved of no use here.
&. We must ask for a support for this knowledge.
We have this knowledge only in ourselves, thus it is
only subjective knowledge, and therefore a foundation
is asked for. Where, it is asked, is the place in which
divine Being is, and in reply to this, it is said, " God is
in Feeling." Thus feeling gets the position of a basis
or causal ground in which the Being of God is given.
These propositions are quite correct, and are not to
be denied, but they are so trivial that it is not worth
while to speak of them here. If the science of religion
be limited to these statements, it is not worth having,
and it is not possible to understand why theology exists
at all.
a. We have immediate knowledge of the fact that
God is. This proposition has, in the first instance, a
quite simple and ingenuous meaning ; afterwards, how-
ever, it gets a meaning which is not ingenuous or with-
out a suggestion of bias, namely this, that this so-called
immediate knowledge is the only knowledge of God ;
and in taking up this position modern theology is in so
far opposed to revealed religion, and likewise to rational
knowledge, for it, too, denies this proposition.
The element of truth in this must be considered more
closely. We know that God is, and this we know
immediately. What does " to know " l mean ? It is
different from cognition or philosophical apprehension.2
We have the expression " certain " (gewiss), and we are
accustomed to oppose certainty to truth. The term " to
know " l expresses the subjective manner in which a
thing exists for me in my consciousness, so that it has
the character of something existent.
Knowledge,1 therefore, essentially means this, that the
1 Wissen. - Erkennen.
120 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
object, the Other, is or exists, and that its existence is
linked with ray existence. I may also know what it is,
either by immediate sense-perception, or as the result of
reflection ; but when I say " I know it," I know only its
being or bare existence. This existence is not, it is
true, empty existence ; I have a knowledge also of more
definite characteristics, qualities of the object, but of
these, too, I know only that they are. Knowing is also
used in the sense of having an idea, but it is always
implied that the content is or exists. Such knowledge
thus implies an abstract attitude and an immediate
relation ; whereas the expression " Truth " suggests a
severance between certainty and objectivity, and the
mediation of the two. On the other hand, we speak of
" Cognition " or philosophical knowledge, when we have
knowledge of a Universal, and at the same time com-
prehend it in its special definite character, and as a
connected whole in itself.
We comprehend or cognise Nature, Spirit, but not a
particular house or a particular individual. The former
are Universals, the latter are particulars, and we com-
prehend or cognise the rich content of those Universals
in their necessary relation to one another.
Considered more closely, this knowledge is conscious-
ness, but purely abstract consciousness, that is to say,
abstract activity of the Ego ; while consciousness proper
contains fuller determinations of content, and distin-
guishes these from itself, as object. This knowledge
therefore merely means that such and such a content is
or exists, and consequently it is the abstract relation of
the Ego to the object, whatever the content is ; or to put
it otherwise, immediate knowledge is nothing but thought
taken in a quite abstract sense. Thought, however, too,
means the self-identical activity of the Ego, and there-
fore, taken generally, is immediate knowledge.
To speak more precisely, thought is that in which its
object has also the character of something abstract, the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 121
activity of the Universal. This thought is contained in
everything, however concrete the relation in any parti-
cular case may be ; but it is only called thought in so far
as the content has the character of something abstract,
of a Universal.
Knowledge is here accordingly no immediate know-
ledge of a corporeal object, but knowledge of God ; God
is the absolutely universal Object ; He is not any kind
of particularity, He is the most universal Personality.
Immediate knowledge of God is immediate knowledge
of an object which is absolutely universal, so that the
product only is immediate. Immediate knowledge of
God is therefore a thinking of God, for Thought is the
activity for which the Universal is.
God has here no other content, no further meaning ; He
is merely nothing that belongs to the sphere of sense ; He
is a Universal of which we know only that it does not
come within the sphere of immediate sense-perception.
It is, in fact, as a movement of mediation that thought
first attains its complete state, for it begins from what
is "other than itself," permeates it, and in this movement
changes it into what is Universal. But here thought
has the merely Universal for its object, as the unde-
termined or indeterminate Universal ; that is, lists a
quality, a content, which it itself is, in which it is, in
fact, in immediate or abstract contact with itself. It is
the light which illumines, but has no other content than
just light. It is just such an immediateness as is im-
plied when I ask what feels feeling ? what perceives
perception ? and am merely answered, feeling has feeling,
perception perceives. In view of this tautology, the
relation is an immediate one.
Thus knowledge of God means nothing more than this,
I think God. But now it is to be added further that this
content of thought, this product, is, it is something
existent. God is not only thought by us, but He is ;
He is not merely a determination of the Universal. We
122 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
must proceed to ascertain by examining into the Notion
(Begriff) itself, how far the Universal receives the de-
termination or attribute of Being or existence.
We must turn to logic for a definition of Being. Being
is Universality taken in its empty and most abstract
sense ; it is pure relation to self, without further reaction
either in an outward or an inward direction. Being is
Universality as abstract Universality. The Universal is
essentially identity with itself ; Being is this too, it is
simple. The determination of the Universal, it is true,
directly involves the relation to particulars ; this par-
ticularity may be conceived of as outside the Universal,
or, more truly, as inside it ; for the Universal is also
this relation to itself, this permeation of the Particular.
Being, however, discards all relation, every determination
which is concrete ; it is without further reflection, with-
out relation to what is other than itself. It is in this
way that Being is contained in the Universal ; and when
I say " the Universal is," I merely express its dry, pure,
abstract relation to itself, this barren immediateness
which Being is. The Universal is no Immediate in this
sense ; it must also be a Particular ; the Universal must
come to be in the Particular itself : this bringing of itself
to the Particular does not represent what is abstract and
immediate. By the term " Being," on the contrary, we
express the abstract Immediate, this barren relation to
self. Thus when I say "This object is," I express the
utmost extreme of arid abstraction ; it is the emptiest,
most sterile determination possible.
To know is to think, and this is the Universal, and
has in itself the characteristic of the abstract Universal,
the immediateness of being : this is the meaning of im-
mediate knowledge.
We are thus in the region of abstract logic ; it always
happens so when we think we are on concrete ground,
the ground of immediate consciousness. But this latter
is the very poorest possible soil for thoughts, and those
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 123
contained in it are of the very baldest and emptiest kind.
It is a proof of the grossest ignorance to believe that im-
mediate knowledge is outside the region of thought. We
fight with such distinctions, and when they are considered
more closely they simply vanish. Even according to the
very poorest definition of " immediate knowledge," namely,
that given above, religion belongs to the sphere of thought.
We, accordingly, go on to inquire m<~>re precisely where-
in it is that what I know in immediate consciousness is
different from other things that I know. I know as yet
nothing but that the Universal is ; what further content
God has is to be discussed in the sequel. The standpoint
of immediate consciousness gives nothing more than the
form of Being referred to. That man cannot know what
God is, is the standpoint of " enlightenment," and this
coincides with that of the immediate knowledge of God.
But further, God is an Object of my consciousness, I distin-
guish Him from myself, He is something different from me,
and I from Him. If we compare other objects in accord-
ance with what we know of them, we find we know of
them this too, that they are, and are something other than
ourselves, they exist for themselves, an.d further they
are either universal or they are not, they are something
universal and at the same time something particular ;
they have some sort of definite content. The 'wall is ; it
is a thing. Thing is a Universal, and thus much I know
too of God. We know far more of other things, but if
we abstract from all their definite characteristics, we only
say, as we said just now of the wall, " It is," thus we know
just as much of it as we do of God. And thus God has
been called an abstract Ens. But this ens is the very
emptiest form of existence compared with which other
entia show themselves to have a far fuller existence.
We have said that God is in immediate knowledge ;
we are too ; this immediateness of Being belongs to the
Ego too. All other concrete, empirical things are or
exist also, they are identical with themselves, this is
124 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
abstractly their Being as Being. This Being exists in
common with me, but the object of my knowledge is so
constituted that I can also withdraw its Being from it ;
I represent it to myself, believe in it, but this in which
I believe is a Being in my consciousness only. Conse-
quently, universality and this quality of immediateness
fall asunder, and must of necessity do so. This reflec-
tion must necessarily occur to one, for we are two, and
must be separate ; otherwise we would be one ; that is,
a characteristic must be attributed to the one which does
not belong to the other. Such a characteristic is Being ;
" I am ; " the Other, the object, therefore is not. I take
Being to myself, to my side ; I do not doubt my own
existence, and on that account it drops away in the case
of the Other. Since the Being here is only the Being of
the object in such a way that the object is only this
definitely known Being, there is wanting to it essential
Being, Being in and for itself, and it receives this only
in consciousness. It is merely known as known Being,
not as having Being in and for itself. The Ego only
exists, not the object. I may indeed doubt everything,
but my own existence I cannot doubt, for " I " is that
which doubts, " I " is the doubt itself. If the doubt
becomes the object of doubt, the doubter doubts of doubt
itself, and thus the doubt vanishes. " I " is immediate
relation to oneself ; Being is in the " I." Immediate-
ness thus gets a fixed place over against Universality,
and is seen to belong to my side. In the " I," Being is
simply in myself; I can abstract from everything, but I
cannot abstract from thought, for the abstracting is itself
thought, it is the activity of the Universal, simple refer-
ence to self. Being is exemplified in the very act of
abstraction. I can indeed destroy myself, but that is
the liberty to abstract from my existence. " I am," — in
the " I " the " am " is already included.
Now, in the act of exhibiting the Object — God — as
He who is Being, we have taken Being to ourselves, the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 125
" I " has vindicated Being for itself, Being has dropped
away from the object. If the object is notwithstanding
to be spoken of as possessed of Being, a reason or ground
must be given for this. It must be shown that God is
in my Being, and thus — since we are now in the region
of experience and observation — the demand sounds as if
we were asked to point to the state or condition in which
God is in me, in which we are not two ; something
observable, where the separateness drops away, where
God is in this Being which remains to me in virtue of \^
the fact that I am ; a place in which the Universal is in
me as possessed of Being, and not separated from me.
THIS PLACE is FEELING.
&. Religious feeling is commonly spoken of as that
element in which faith in God is given to us, and as that
inmost region in which it is for us absolutely certain
that God is. Of certainty we have already spoken.
This certainty means that two different kinds of Being
are posited in reflection as One Being. Being is abstract
relation to self ; there are, however, two things possessed
of Being, but they are only one Being, and this undivided
Being is my Being ; this is certainty. This certainty, *<"
with a content in a more concrete form, is feeling, and
this feeling is set forth as the ground of faith and of
the knowledge of God. What is in our feeling, that we
call knowledge, and so, accordingly, God exists. In this
way feeling is regarded as that which is the basis or
causal ground. The form of knowledge is what is first,
then come the distinctions, and with these enter the
differences between the two, and the reflection that the
Being is my Being, that it belongs to me. And here
accordingly is the need that the object, too, should be in
this Being which I assume as mine ; and this is Feeling.
In this way we refer or appeal to feeling.
" I feel something hard ; " when I thus speak, " I " is
126 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the One, the Other is that " something ; " there are two
of them. The expression of the consciousness — what is
i common to the two — is the hardness. There is hardness
in my feeling, and the object, too, is hard. This com-
munity exists in feeling, the object touches me, and I
am filled with its specific quality. When I say " I "
and "object," the two still exist jndependently ; it is
only in feeling thatjthe double Being ^ vanishes. The
specific character of the object becomes mine, and in-
deed so much mine that at first reflection in reference to
the object, entirely drops away ; in so far as the other
remains independent, it is not felt, or tasted. I, how-
ever, since I get a determinate character in feeling, take up
an immediate attitude in it. In feeling I am this single
empirical I, and the determinate character of my feeling
belongs to this particular empirical self-consciousness.
A distinction is thus implicitly contained in feeling.
On the one side am I, the Universal, the Subject ; and
this transparent, pure fluidity, this immediate reflection
into myself, becomes disturbed by an " Other ; " but in
this " Other " I keep myself entirely with myself, I
preserve completely my self-centred existence. The ex-
traneous quality becomes, so to speak, fluid in my
universality, and that which is for me an " Other," I
make my own. When another quality has been put
into what is lifeless, this particular thing has acquired
another quality too. But I, as feeling, maintain myself
in that " Other " which penetrates me, and continue to
be, in the determinateness, I. The distinction in feeling
is, in the first place, an inner one in the Ego itself ; it is
the distinction between me in my pure fluidity, and me
in my definite character. But this inner distinction,
owing to the fact that reflection enters into it, is none
the less also posited as such. I separate myself from my
definite character of determinateness, place it as " Other "
over against me, and subjectivity comes to exist on its
own account merely in relation to objectivity.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 127
- It is usual to say that feeling is something purely
subjective ; but it is in reference to an object of percep-
tion, or of which I form an idea, that I first become
subjective by placing some " other " over against me. It
would consequently appear that feeling cannot be termed
something subjective, since in it the distinction of sub-
jectivity and objectivity has not as yet appeared. This
division, however, namely, that I as subject exist in
reference to objectivity, is in reality a relation and
identity, which is at the same time distinguished from
this distinction, and it is just here that Universality
begins. While I stand in relation to another, and in
perception, or in forming ideas, distinguish the object
from myself, I am the mutual reference of these two,
myself and the other, and I am making a distinction in
which an identity is posited, and my attitude with
regard to the object is that of a grasping over (iibergrei-
feu) or bridging over of the difference. In feeling, as
such, on the contrary, the Ego exists in this immediate
simple unity, in a condition in which it is wholly filled
with determinate character, and does not go beyond this
character. Thus I am, as feeling, something entirely
special or particular ; I am thoroughly immersed in
determinateuess, and am in the strict sense of the word
subjective only, without objectivity and without univer-
sality.
Now, if feeling be the essential religious attitude, this
attitude is identical with my empirical self. Determi-
nateness, representing the eternal thought of the Universal,
and I as wholly empirical subjectivity, are in me com-
prised and comprehended in feeling. I am the immediate
reconciliation and resolution of the strife between the
two. But just because I thus find myself determined on
the one hand as a particular empirical subject, and am on
the other raised into a wholly different region, and have
the experience of passing to and fro from the one to the
other, and have the feeling of the relation of the two, do I
128 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
find myself determined as against myself, or as distin-
guished from myself. That is to say, in this very feel-
ing of mine I am driven by its content into contrast or
opposition — in other words, to reflection and to the distinc-
tion of subject and object.
This transition to reflection is not peculiar to religious
feeling only, but to human feeling generally. For man
is Spirit, consciousness, idea ; there is no feeling which
does not contain in itself this transition to reflection. In
every other feeling, however, it is only the inner neces-
sity and nature of the process which impels to reflection,
namely, the necessity whereby the Ego distinguishes
itself from its determinate state. Religious feeling, on
the contrary, contains in its content, in its very deter-
ininateness, not only the necessity but the reality of the
opposition itself, and consequently contains reflection.
For the substance or content of the religious relation is
just the thought of the Universal, which is itself, indeed,
reflection, and therefore the other moment of my empiri-
cal consciousness, and the relation of both. Therefore
in religious feeling I am alienated from myself, for the
Universal, the Thought which has an absolute existence,
is the negation of my particular empirical existence,
which appears in regard to it as a nullity which has its
truth in the Universal only. The religious attitude is
unity, but it involves the power of judgment or differ-
entiation.1 In feeling the moment of empirical exist-
ence, I feel the universal aspect, that of negation, as a
determinateness which exists entirely outside of me ; or,
to put it otherwise, while I am in this last I feel myself
estranged from myself in my empirical existence, I feel
I am renouncing myself and negating my empirical con-
sciousness.
Now the subjectivity which is contained in religious
feeling, being empirical and particular, exists in feeling
in the shape of some particular interest, or in some
1 <;KraftdesUrtheils."
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 129
particular determinate form in fact. Religious feeling
contains just this definite (twofold) character, that of em-
pirical self-consciousness, and that of universal thought,
and their relation and unity. It therefore hovers be-
tween their opposition and their unity and harmony, differ-
ing in character with the attitude of individual subjectivity
to the Universal, as it determines itself in accordance with
the particular shape assumed by the interest in which I
happen at the time to be absorbed. Accordingly the
relation of the Universal and the empirical self-conscious-
ness may be of a very varied kind. There may be the
utmost tension and hostility of the extremes, or the most
entire unity. When the condition is that of separation,
in which the Universal is the Substantial in relation to
which the empirical consciousness feels that it exists, and
at the same time feels its essential nothingness, but
desires still to cling to its positive existence and remain
what it is, we have the feeling of fear. When we realise
that our own inner existence and feeling are null, and
when self-consciousness is at the same time on the side
of the Universal and condemns that existence, we get the
feeling of contrition, of sorrow on account of ourselves.
The empirical existence of self-consciousness feels itself
benefited or furthered, either as a whole, or in some one
or other of its aspects. Feeling that it has hardly been
thus benefited by its own self-activity, but owing to
combination and a power lying outside of its own
strength and wisdom, which is conceived of as the abso-
lutely existing Universal, and to which that benefit is
ascribed — it comes to have the feeling of gratitude, and
so on. The higher unity of my self-consciousness gene-
rally with the Universal, the certainty, assurance, and
feeling of this identity, is love, blessedness.
c. But if with this advance of feeling to reflection,
and this distinguishing between the " I " and its deter-
minate state, which thus appears as content and object,
such a position be given to feeling that it becomes in its
VOL. i. I
130 THE 'PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
very self the justification of the content and the evidence
of its Being or truth, it is necessary to make the follow-
ing remarks : —
The matter of feeling may be of the most varied
character. "We have the feeling of justice, of injustice,
of God, of colour, of hatred, of enmity, of joy, &c. The
most contradictory elements are to be found in feeling ;
the most debased, as well as the highest and noblest,
have a place there. Experience proves that the matter
of feeling has the most accidental character possible ; it
may be the truest, or it may be the worst. God, when
He is present in feeling, has no advantage over the
very worst possible thing. On the contrary, the king-
liest flower springs from the same soil and side by
side with the rankest weed. Because a content is found
in feeling, it does not mean that this content is in itself
anything very fine. For it is not only what exists that
cojnes into our feeling ; ~. it is, not only the real, the
existent, but also the fictitious^ and the false. All that is
good and all that is evil, all that is real and all that is
not real, is found in our feeling ; the most contradictory
things are there. All imaginable things are felt by me ;
I can become enthusiastic about what is most unworthy.
I have hope ; hope is a feeling ; in it, a,s in fear, we have
to do with the future ; that is, in so many words, with
what does not yet exist, with what perhaps indeed
will, perhaps never will, be. Likewise I can become
enthusiastic about the past ; but also for such things as
neither have been, nor will be. I can imagine myself to
be a great and able, a noble-minded, most superior man,
to be capable of sacrificing everything for justice, for my
opinion ; I can imagine myself to have been of great use,
to have accomplished much; but the question is, whether
it is true, whether as a matter of fact I act so nobly, and
am in reality so excellent as I imagine myself to be.
\Vhether my feeling is of a true sort, whether it is good,
depends upon its content. The mere fact that there is
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 131
a content in feeling does not decide the matter, for the
very worst elements are there too. In like manner the
question as to the existence of the content does not
depend upon- whether or not it is in feeling, for things
which have been imagined merely, which have never
existed, and never will exist, are found there. Con-
sequently, feeling is a form, or mould, for every possible
kind of content, and this content receives no determina-
tion therefrom which could affect its own independent
existence, its being in-and-for self. Feeling is the form
in which the content appears as perfectly accidental, for
it may just as well be posited by my caprice, or good
pleasure, as by Nature. The content as it exists in feel-
ing thus appears as not absolutely determined on its own
account, as not posited through the Universal, through
the Notion. Therefore it is in its very essence the par-
ticular, the limited; and it is a matter of indifference
whether it be this particular content, since another con-
tent may just as well be in my feeling. Thus when the
Being of God is shown to be present in our feeling, it is
just as accidental there as all else to which this Being
may belong. This, then, we call Subjectivity, but in the
worst sense. Personality, self-determination, the highest
intensity of Spirit in itself is subjectivity too, but in a
higher sense, in a freer form. Here, however, subjecti-
vity means mere contingency or fortuitousness.
It frequently occurs that a man appeals to feeling
when reasons fail. Such a man must be left to himself,
for with the appeal to his own feeling the community
between us is broken off. In the sphere of thought, on
the contrary, of the Notion, we are in that of the Uni-
versal, of rationality ; there we have the nature of the
real object 1 before us ; we can come to an understanding
concerning it ; we submit ourselves to .the object, and
the object is that which we have in common. But if we
pass over to feeling, we forsake this common ground ; we
1 Natur der Sache.
1 32 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
withdraw ourselves into the sphere of our contingency,
and merely look at the object as it is there. In this
sphere each man makes the object his own affair, some-
thing peculiar to himself ; and thus if one person says
you ought to have such feelings, another may reply, I
simply have not those feelings ; as a matter of fact, I am
not so constituted. For what is really in question in this
demand is merely that contingent existence of mine,
which takes this or the other form indifferently.
Further, feeling is that which man has in common
with the lower animals ; it is the animal, sensuous form.
It follows, therefore, that when what belongs to the cate-
gory of justice, of morality, of God, is exhibited to us in
feeling, this is the worst possible way in which to draw
attention to the existence of a content of such a kind.
God exists essentially in Thought. The suspicion that
He exists through thought, and only in thought, must
occur to us from the mere fact that man alone has reli-
gion, not the beasts.
All in man, whose true soil or element is thought, can
be transplanted into the form of feeling. Justice, free-
dom, morality, and so on have their roots in the higher
destiny of man, whereby he is not beast, but Spirit. All
that belongs to the higher characteristics of humanity
can be transplanted into the form of feeling; yet the
feeling is only the form for this content, which itself
belongs to a quite different region. Thus we have feel-
ings of justice, freedom, morality ; but it is no merit on
the part of feeling that its content is true. The educated
man may have a true feeling of justice, of God ; he does
not, however, derive this from feeling, but he owes it to
the education of thought; it is only through thought
that the content of the idea, and thus the feeling itself,
is present. It is a fallacy to credit the true and the
good to feeling.
Yet not only may a true content exist in our feeling,
it ought to exist, and must exist ; or, as it used to be put,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 133
we must have God in our heart. Heart is indeed more
than feeling. This last is only momentary, accidental,
transient ; but when I say " I have God in my heart,"
the feeling is here expressly represented as the con-
tinuous, permanent manner of my existence. The heart
is what I am ; not merely what I am at this moment, but
what I am in general ; it is my character. The form of
feeling as somethirig universal thus means the principles
or settled habits of my existence, the fixed manner of
my way of acting.
In the Bible, however, evil, as such, is expressly attri-
buted to the heart, and the heart — this natural particu-
larity of ours — is, as a matter of fact, the seat of evil.
But goodness, morality, do not consist in the fact that a
man enforces the claims of his particularity, his selfish-
ness, or selfuess. If he does so, he is evil. The element
of self is the evil element which we generally call the
heart. Now when it is said, as above, that God, justice,
&c., must exist in my feeling, in my heart, what is meant
is only that these are not to be merely something of
which I form ideas, but are to be inseparably identical
with me. I, as actual, as this definite individual, am to
be so determined completely and entirely ; this definite
nature is to be my character, is to constitute the whole
manner of my actual existence, and thus it is essential
that every true content should be in feeling, in the heart.
Such is the manner in which religion is to be brought
into the heart, and it is here that the necessity for the
religious education of the individual comes in. The
heart, feeling, must be purified, educated ; and this edu-
cation means that another, a higher mode of feeling is
the true one, and comes into existence with the indi-
vidual. Yet the content is not true, not self-existent,
good, inherently excellent, simply because it is in feeling.
If what is in feeling be true, then all must be true ; as,
for example, Apis-worship. Feeling is the central point
of subjective, accidental Being. To give his feelings a
134 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
true content, is therefore the concern of the individual ;
but a theology which only describes feelings does not get
beyond the empirical, the historical, and such contingent
particulars, and has not yet to do with thoughts that have
a content.
The ideas and knowledge of an educated man do not
exclude feeling and emotion. On the contrary, feeling
nourishes itself, and gives itself permanence by means of
ideas, and by means of ideas renews and kindles itself
afresh. Anger, resentment, hatred, show just as much
activity in keeping themselves alive by representing to
themselves the various aspects of the injustice sustained,
and the various aspects in which they view the enemy,
as do love, goodwill, joy, in giving themselves fresh life
by figuring to themselves the equally manifold relations
of their objects. If we do not think, as it is called, of
^ the object of hatred, anger, or of love, the feeling and the
inclination become extinct. If the object fades out of
the mind, the feeling vanishes too, and every external
cause stirs up sorrow and love afresh. To divert the
mind, to present other objects to it to exercise itself
upon, and to transplant it into other situations and cir-
cumstances in which those various relations are not
present to the mind, is one of the means of weakening
sensation and feeling. The mind must forget the object ;
and in hatred to forget is more than to forgive, just as
in love to forget is more than to be unfaithful, and to be
forgotten is worse than to be only disregarded. Man, as
Spirit, since he is not merely animal, in feeling essen-
tially exercises knowledge ; he is consciousness, and he
only has knowledge of himself when he withdraws him-
self out of immediate identity with the particular state
of the moment. Therefore if religion is only to exist as
feeling, it dies away into something void of ideas, and
equally void of action, and loses all definite content.
In fact, it is so far from being the case that in feeling
alone we can truly find God, that if we are to find this
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 135
content there, we must already knoio it from some other
source. And if it be affirmed that we do not truly know
God, that we. can know nothing of Him, how then can
we say that He is in feeling ? We must first have looked
around us in consciousness in search of characteristics
belonging to the content which is distinct from the
Ego, and not till then shall we be in a position to point
to feeling as religious, that is, in so far as we rediscover
those characteristics of the content in it.
In more recent times it has been customary to speak
of conviction, and not of the heart, the " heart" being the
expression still used for any one's immediate character.
When, however, we speak of acting according to convic-
tion, it is implied that the content is a power which
governs me ; it is my power, and I belong to it ; but this
power rules me from within in a fashion which implies
that it is already mediated by thought and intellectual
insight.
In regard further to what has special reference to the
idea that the heart is the germ of this content, it may be
freely conceded that the idea is correct, but this does not
carry us far. That the heart is the source, means nearly
this — that it is the first mode in which any such content
appears in the subject ; it is its first place, or seat. A
man begins by having religious feeling- or wanting it ; in
the former case the heart is undoubtedly the germ ; but
as a vegetable seed-corn represents the undeveloped mode
of the plant's existence, so feeling, too, is this hidden or
undeveloped mode.
That seed-corn, with which the life of the plant begins,
is only in appearance, in an empirical fashion, what is
first ; for the seed-corn is likewise a product, a result, is
what is last. It is the result of the fully developed life
of the tree, and incloses this perfect development of the
nature of the tree in itself. The primariness is therefore
only of a relative character. In a similar way in our
subjective actuality, this entire content exists in an
136 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
undeveloped form in feeling ; but it is quite another thing
to say that this content as such belongs to feeling as
such. Such a content as God, is a content which is self-
existent and universal ; and in like manner the content
of right and duty is a characteristic of rational will.
I am will, I am not desire only ; I have not only in-
clination ; — " I" is the Universal. As will, however, I
am in my freedom, in my Universality itself, in the
Universality of my self-determination ; and if my will be
rational, then its determining is in fact an universal one,
a determining in accordance with the pure Notion. The
rational will is very different from the contingent will,
from willing according to accidental impulses or inclina-
tions. The rational will determines itself in accordance
with its notion or conception ; and the notion, the sub-
stance of the will, is pure freedom. And all determina-
tions of the will which are rational are developments of
freedom, and the developments which result from the
determinations are duties.
This is the content which belongs to rationality ; it is
determination by means of, in accordance with, the pure
Notion, and therefore belongs in like manner to thought.
Will is only rational in so far as it involves thought.
The popular idea that will and intelligence represent two
•different provinces, and that will can be rational, and so
moral, without thought, must therefore be relinquished.
As regards God it has already been observed that this
content in like manner belongs to thought, that the region
in which this content is apprehended as well as produced
is thought.
Now, though we have designated feeling as the sphere
in which the Being of God is to be immediately exhibited,
we have not in that region found the Being, the Object
—God — in the form in which we sought for it ; that is
to say, we have not found it there as free, independent
Being, Being in and for self. God is, He is independent
and self-existent, is free; we do not find this independence,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 137
this free Being, in feeling ; nor do we find the content as
a self-existent content ; on the contrary, any kind of
particular content may be in feeling. If feeling is to be
of a truthful, genuine character, it must be so by means
of its content ; but it is not feeling which, as such, renders
its content true.
Such is the nature of this sphere of feeling, and such
are the characteristics which pertain to it. It is feeling
of any kind of content, and simultaneously feeling of
self. In feeling we thus as it were have the enjoyment
of our own selves, of our realisation of the object. The
reason why feeling is so popular, is just because in it a
man is in presence of his particularity or particular exist-
ence. He who lives in the object or actual fact itself,
in science, in the practical, forgets himself in it ; it
involves no feeling so far as feeling is recollection of his
individual self, and in that forgetting of himself he is
as regards his particular existence a minimum. Vanity,
self-satisfaction, on the other hand, which likes nothing
better than self, and the possession of self, and only
desires to remain in the enjoyment of self, appeals to
personal feeling, and therefore does not arrive at objec-
tive thinking and acting. A man who has to do with
feeling only is not as yet complete ; he is a beginner in
knowledge, in action, &c.
We must now therefore look around us for another
basis for God. In feeling, we have not found God either
in accordance with His independent Being, or in accord-
ance with His content. In immediate knowledge, the
Object was not possessed of Being ; on the contrary, its
Being was found in the knowing subject, which discovered
the basis of this Being in feeling.
In regard to the determinate character of the Ego,
which constitutes the content of feeling, we have already
seen that it is not only distinct from the pure Ego, but
must also be distinguished from feeling in its own pecu-
liar movement in that the E<K> finds itself determined as
I38 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
against itself. This distinction is now, too, to be posited
as such, so that the activity of the Ego comes into
operation, and sets its determinate character at a distance,
so to speak, as not its own, places it outside of itself, and
makes it objective. And further, we saw that the Ego
is in feeling potentially estranged from itself, and has
potentially in the Universality which it contains, the
negation of its particular empirical existence. Now, in
putting its determinateness outside of itself, the Ego
estranges itself, does away, in fact, with its immediacy,
and has entered into the sphere of the Universal.
At first, however, the determinateness of Spirit appears
as the external object in general, and gets the entirely
objective character of externality in space and time. And
the consciousness which places it in this externality, and
relates itself to it, is perception, which we here have to
consider in its perfect form as Art-perception.
2. Perception.
Art had its origin in the feeling of the absolute spiritual
need that the Divine, the spiritual Idea, should exist as
object for consciousness, and in the first place for percep-
tion in its immediate form. The law and content of art
is Truth as it appears in mind or Spirit, and is therefore
spiritual truth, but spiritual truth in such a form that it
is at the same time sensiwus truth, existing for perception
in its simple form. Thus the representation of truth is
the work of man, but it appears in an external fashion,
so that it is produced under the conditions of sense. When
the Idea appears immediately in Nature and in spiritual
relations too, when the True shows itself in the midst of
diversity and confusion, the Idea is not yet gathered into
one centre of manifestation ; it still shows itself in the form
of externality, or mutual exclusion. In immediate exist-
ence the manifestation of the Notion does not yet appear
in harmony with truth. That sensuous perception to
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 139
which art gives occasion is, on the contrary, something
which is necessarily the product of Spirit, not something
which appears in an immediate or sensuous shape, and it
has the Idea as its life-giving centre.
In what may be regarded as constituting the entire
sphere of art, there may be other elements included than
those which have just been alluded to. For truth has
here a double meaning, and first of all that of accuracy,
by which is meant, that the representation should be in
conformity with the otherwise known object. In this
sense art is formal, and is imitation of given objects,
whatever the content may be. Here its law is not beauty.
But in so far also as beauty is its law, art can be still
taken as involving form, and have, moreover, a limited,
well-defined content, as much as the literal truth itself.
But this last in its true sense is correspondence of the
object with its conception or notion, namely, the Idea.
And this, as the free expression of the notion unhindered
in any way by contingency or caprice, is the self -existent
content of art, and is a content indeed which has to do with
the substantial universal elements, the essential qualities,
and powers of nature and of Spirit.
The artist, then, has to present truth, so that the reality,
in which the conception or notion has power, and in which
it rules, is at the same time something sensuous. The
Idea exists consequently in a sensuous form, and in an
individualised shape, which cannot miss having the con-
tingent character attaching to what is sensuous. The
work of art is conceived in the mind of the artist, and
in his mind the union of the notion or conception and of
reality has implicitly taken place. But when the artist
has let his thoughts emerge into externality, and the work
is completed, he soon retires from it.
Thus the work of art is, so far as perception is con-
cerned, in the first instance, an external object of a quite
ordinary sort, which has no feeling of self, and does not
know itself. The form, the subjectivity, which the artist
140 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
has given to his work, is external only ; it is not the
absolute form of what knows itself, of self-consciousness.
Subjectivity, in its complete form, is wanting to the work
of art. This self-consciousness belongs to the subjective
consciousness, to the perceiving Subject. In relation to
the work of art, therefore, which in itself is not some-
thing having knowledge, the element of self-consciousness
is the Other, but an element, too, which belongs to it
absolutely, and which knows the object represented, and
represents it to itself as the substantial truth. The work
of art, since it does not know itself, is essentially in-
complete, and (since self-consciousness belongs to the
Idea) it needs that completion which it acquires by the
relation to it of what is self-conscious. It is in this con-
sciousness that the process takes place by which the work
of art ceases to be merely object, and by which self-con-
sciousness posits that which seems to it as an Other, as
identical with itself. This is the process which does away
with that externality in which truth appears in art, and
which annuls these lifeless relations of immediacy, and it
is through it that the perceiving subject gives itself the
conscious feeling of having in the object its own essence.
Since this characteristic, which is a going into itself out
of externality, belongs to the subject, there exists a
separation between the subject and the work of art ; the
subject is able to contemplate the work in a wholly ex-
ternal manner, to take it to pieces, or he can make
smart, sesthetical, and learned remarks upon it ; but that
process which is the essential one for perception, that
necessary completion of the work of art, in turn does
away with this prosaic separation.
In the oriental idea of the substantiality of conscious-
ness, its unity with the one Absolute Substance, this
separation has not yet been reached, and therefore art-
perception is not brought to a perfect state either, for
this last presupposes the higher freedom of self-conscious-
ness, which is able to place its truth and substantiality
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 141
freely over against itself. Bruce, when in Abyssinia,
showed a painted fish to a Turk, but the remark which
the latter made was this : " At the last day the fish will
lay it to your charge that you gave it no soul." An
oriental does not desire mere form ; on the contrary, for
him the soul remains absorbed in unity, and does not
advance to the condition of separation, nor reach the
process in which truth stands on the one side as em-
bodied without a soul, and on the other the perceiving
self-consciousness, which again annuls this separation.
If we now look back upon the progress which the
religious attitude has made in its development up to this
point, and if we compare perception with feeling, we
shall see that truth has indeed definitely appeared in its
objectivity ; but we see too that the defect, or deficiency,
in its manifestation is, that it remains in sensuous, im-
mediate independence, that is to say, in that indepen-
dence which in turn annuls itself, does not exist on its
own account, and which likewise proves itself to be the
product of the subject, since it only attains to subjectivity
and self-consciousness in the perceiving subject. In per-
ception the elements of the totality of the religious rela-
tion— namely, the object, and self-consciousness — have got
separated . The religious process belongs, indeed, to the per-
ceiving subject only, and yet it is not complete in the sub-
ject, but needs the object perceived by sense. On the other
hand, the object is the truth, and yet it needs, in order to
be true, the self-consciousness which lies outside of it.
The advance now necessary is this, that the totality
of the religious relation should be actually posited as
such, and as unity. Truth attains to objectivity, in
which its content as existing on its own account is not
merely something posited, but exists essentially in the
form of subjectivity itself, and the entire process takes
place in the element of self-consciousness.
In accordance with this, the religious attitude is in the
first place that of the general idea or ordinary thought.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
3. Idea, or Ordinary Thought?
We can very easily distinguish between a picture (Bild)
and an idea (Vorstellung). Something different is meant
when we say "We have an idea," from what is meant when
we say, "We have a picture of God ; " the same difference
exists with regard to sensuous objects. A picture derives its
content from the sphere of sense, and presents it in the im-
mediate mode of its existence, in its singularity, and in the
arbitrariness of its sensuous manifestation. But since the
infinite number of individual things, as they are present
in immediate, definite existence, cannot, even by means
of the most detailed or ample representation, be rendered
as a whole, the picture is necessarily always something
limited ; and in religious perception, which is able only to
present its content as a picture, the Idea splits up into
a multitude of forms, in which it limits itself and renders
itself finite. The universal Idea (Idee), which appears in
the circle of these finite forms, and only in these, and
which is merely their basis, must as such remain con-
cealed.
General idea or ordinary thought (Vorstellung), on the
other hand, is the picture lifted up into the form of Uni-
versality, of thought, so that the one fundamental charac-
teristic, which constitutes the essence of the object, is held
fast, and is present before the mind which thus forms the
idea. If, for instance, we say " world," in this single
sound we have gathered together and united the entire
wealth of this infinite universe. If the consciousness of
1 NOTE. — Throughout this section Vorstellung is generally translated as
" idea," with a small i, and without the article to distinguish it from the
Idea (die Idee) which represents, to use the definition of Professor Wallace,
thought in its totality as an organisation or system of reason, but this
rendering has not been strictly adhered to here or elsewhere, and general
idea, ordinary thought, popular conception, and other equivalents have
been employed. — E. B. S.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 143
the object be reduced to this simple, specific form of
thought, it is then idea, which needs nothing but the
word for its manifestation — this simple utterance or
outward expression which remains within itself. The
manifold content which idea simplifies may be derived
from the inner life, from freedom, and then we have
ideas of right, of morality, of wickedness. Or it may be
derived from external phenomena, too, as, for instance,
we may have ideas of battles, or of wars in general.
Eeligion, when lifted up into the form of idea, directly
involves a polemical element. The content is not
grasped in sensuous perception, not in a pictorial and
immediate manner, but mediately, after the fashion of
Abstraction. What is sensuous and pictorial is lifted up
into the Universal, and with the elevation into this sphere
there is necessarily linked a negative attitude towards
what is pictorial. But this negative attitude does not
merely concern the form (in which case the distinction
between sense-perception and idea would lie in that only),
but it also touches the content. The Idea (Idee) and
the mode of presentation are so closely related for sense-
perception, that the two appear as One, and pictorial art
implies that the Idea is essentially linked with it, and
could not be severed from it. On the contrary, general
idea (Vorstellung) proceeds on the supposition that the
absolute, really true Idea cannot be grasped by means of
a picture, and that the pictorial mode is a limitation of
the content ; it therefore does away with that unity of
perception, rejects the unity of the picture and its mean-
ing, and brings this meaning into prominence for itself.
Finally, then, religious idea or general conception,
is to be understood as embodying truth, objective con-
tent, and is thus meant to be antagonistic not only to the
pictorial mode of representing truth, but also to other
modes of subjectivity. Its content is that which has
validity in and for itself, which remains substantially
fixed as against individual suppositions and opinions, and
144 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
is inflexible as contrasted with the fluctuations of indi-
vidual desires and likings.
This has reference to the essence of idea in a general
sense. With regard to its more specific form, we have
to make the following remarks : — •
a. We have seen that in idea the essential content is
posited in the form of thought, but this does not mean
that it is already posited as thought. When, therefore,
we said that idea takes up a polemical attitude to the
sensuous and pictorial, and assumes a negative attitude
with regard to it, this does not imply that idea has
freed itself absolutely from the sensuous, and posited
the latter ideally in a complete and perfect way. It
is only in actual thought that this is accomplished,
which lifts up the sensuous qualities of the content to
the region of universal thought-determinations, to the
inward moments, or to the determinateness as peculiar to
the Idea itself. Since idea is not this concrete elevation
of the sensuous to the Universal, its negative attitude
towards the sensuous means nothing more than that it
is not truly liberated from the sensuous. General idea
or ordinary thought is still essentially entangled with
the sensuous; it requires it, and requires to enter on
this contest with the sensuous in order to exist. The
sensuous element, therefore, belongs essentially to idea,
although idea never permits the sensuous to enjoy an
independent validity. Further, the Universal, of which
idea is conscious, is only the abstract Universality of its
object, only its undetermined Essence, or approximate
natura In order to give a determinate character to that
essence, it again requires what is determined by Sense,
the pictorial ; but to this as being sensuous it gives the
position of something which is separate from what is
signified by it, and treats it as a point at which it is not
permissible to remain, as something which only serves
to represent the proper or true content which is separate
from it.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 145
On this account, then, idea is in a state of constant
unrest between immediate sensuous perception on the
one hand, and thought proper on the other. Its deter-
minateness is of sensuous kind, derived from what is
sensuous, but thought has introduced itself ; in other
words, the Sensuous becomes elevated into thought by
the process of abstraction. But these two, the Sensuous
and the Universal, do not interpenetrate one another
thoroughly ; thought has not as yet completely over-
come the sensuous determinateness, and although the
content of idea is also something universal, yet it is still
encumbered with the determinateness of the Sensuous,
and needs the form of the natural (Natiirlichkeit). But
it is not the less true that this moment of the Sensuous
does not possess independent validity.
Thus there are many forms in religion, regarding
which we know that they are not to be taken in their
strict sense. For instance, " Son," or " Begetting " is
only a figure derived from a natural relation, regarding
which we know quite well that it is not intended to
be understood in its immediate sense, but that what is
indicated is rather a relation which is only approximately
the one here described, and that this sensuous relation
lias in it what corresponds most nearly to that relation
which is taken in the strict sense in regard to God.
And further, when we speak of the wrath of God, of
His repentance, or His vengeance, we know at once that
the words are not meant to be taken in the strict sense,
but merely as implying resemblance, likeness. Then,
too, we meet with figures worked out in detail. We hear,
for instance, of a tree of knowledge of good and evil.
With the eating of the fruit, it already begins to become
doubtful whether what is said of this tree is to be taken
strictly as a narrative as a historical truth — and so, too, of
the eating — or whether this tree is not rather to be taken
as a figure. When mention is made of a tree of know-
ledge of good and evil, such opposite elements are involved'
VOL. I. K
146 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
in the conception that we very soon come to perceive
that the fruit is no sensuous fruit, and that the tree is
not to be taken in the strict sense.
b. What is not merely to be taken as a figure, but
rather in the sense of something historical as such, be-
longs also, in respect to the sensuous element in it, to the
mode of the general idea. Something may be stated in a
historical way, but we do not take it seriously as such, we
do not ask if it is meant to be taken seriously. Such,
for instance, is our attitude toward what Homer tells
us of Jupiter and the other gods.
But then besides this there is - something historical
which is a divine history, and of such a nature that it
is regarded as in the strict sense a history, the history
of Jesus Christ. This is not taken merely as a myth
in a figurative way, but as something perfectly historical.
That accordingly is something which belongs to be
sphere of general ideas, but it has another side as well.
It has the Divine for its content, divine action, divine
timeless events, a mode of working that is absolutely
divine. And this is the inward, the true, the substantial
element of this history, and it is just this that is the
object of reason. In every narrative, in fact, there is
this double element ; a myth, too, has a meaning in
itself. There are, it is true, myths in which the external
form in which they appear is of the most importance,
but usually such a myth contains an allegory, like the
myths of Plato.
Every narrative in fact contains this external series
of occurrences and actions, but these are occurrences it
must be remembered in the life of a man, a spirit. The
history of a state is that of the mode of working, the
actions, the fate of a universal spirit, the spirit of a people.
Anything of this kind has already on its own account
and in itself a universal element. Looking at the matter
in a superficial sense, it may be said that it is possible
to draw a moral out of every bit of history.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 147
The moral which is drawn from it contains at all
events the essential moral forces which have been at
work in it, which have produced it. These are its inner,
its substantial element. The narrative thus presents
the aspect of something which is broken up into detail,
it possesses this detached or isolated character, and is
individualised to the utmost possible degree ; but uni-
versal laws, moral forces are recognisable in it too.
These do not exist for idea or ordinary thought as such.
What concerns idea or ordinary thought is the narrative
as it historically develops itself in the phenomenal sphere.
In an historical narrative of this kind, there is some-
thing even for the man whose thoughts or conceptions have
not as yet been definitely formed and cultivated. He feels
these forces in it, and has a dim consciousness of them.
Such is the essential form which religion takes for the
ordinary consciousness, for consciousness in its ordinary
state of cultivation. It is a content which at first presents
itself in a sensuous manner, a succession of actions, of
sensuous determinations, which follow each other in time,
and are, further, side by side in space. The content is
empirical, concrete, manifold, but it has also an inner
element. There is spirit in it which acts upon spirit ;
the subjective spirit bears witness to the Spirit which is
in the content, at first through dim recognition without
this Spirit being developed for consciousness.
c. All spiritual content, all spiritual relation in general
is finally idea when its inner characteristics come to be
conceived of simply as self-related and independent.
If we say, " God is all-wise, good, righteous," we have
a definite content ; but each of these determinations of
the content is single and independent ; " and," " also,"
are the links which belong to the general idea. " All-
wise," " supremely good," are conceptions too : they are
no longer imagery, do not belong to sense or history, but
are spiritual determinations. They are not, however,
as yet actually analysed ; the distinctions are not yet
148 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
posited in their mutual relations, but are merely taken
in an abstract simple self-reference. In so far certainly
as the content already has manifold relations in itself,
but a relation which is only external, there is posited
thereby an external identity. When we say a thing is
this, then that, and then so and so, these determinations
have to begin with the form of contingency.
Or if idea contain relations which are nearer to thought,
as for instance, that God created the world, the relation
is still grasped by idea in the form of contingency and
externality. Thus, in the idea of the creation, God
remains on the one side apart, and the world on the other,
but the connection of the two sides is not posited under
the form of necessity. This connection is either expressed
according to the analogies of natural life and natural
events, or, if it be designated as creation, it is treated
as a connection to be regarded as quite peculiar and
incomprehensible. If, however, the word " Activity " be
used as expressive of that which produced the world,
it is indeed a more abstract term, but it is not as yet
the notion. The essential content stands fast by itself
in the form of simple universality, in which it lies
concealed and undeveloped, and its transition by its own
act into another, its identity with that other, has not
yet been reached ; it is merely identical with itself.
The bond of necessity and the unity of their difference
are wanting to the individual points.
As soon, therefore, as idea or ordinary thought attempts
to conceive an essential connection, it leaves the con-
nection in the form of contingency, and does not go on
to its true essence and to its eternal interpenetrative
unity. Tims in idea the thought of providence and the
movements of histoiy are embraced in and grounded on
the eternal decree of God. But here the connection is
at once transplanted into a sphere where it is said
to be incomprehensible and inscrutable for us . The
thought of the universal, therefore, does not become
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 149
determined in itself, and is no sooner expressed than it
is immediately cancelled.
Having seen what is the general character of idea,
or ordinary thought, it is now time to touch upon the
pedagogic question of recent times, namely, whether
religion can be taught. Teachers who do not know how
to set about teaching religion, hold that instruction in
the doctrines of religion is out of place. But religion
has a content or substantial element, which must be
capable of being placed before the mind in an objec-
tive manner. This involves the possibility of communi-
cating the content so represented to the mind, for ideas
are communicable by words. To warm the heart, to
excite emotions, is something different. That is not to
teach, that is to interest my subjectivity in something,
and an eloquent sermon may produce the effect with-
out containing doctrine or instruction. If, indeed, -we
make feeling our point of departure, if we posit it as
that which is primary and original, and then say that
religious ideas spring from feeling, that is, in one aspect
of the matter, true, in so far as the original determinate-
ness belongs to the nature of Spirit itself. But, on the
other hand, feeling is so indeterminate that anything
may be in it, and the knowledge of what lies in feeling
does not belong to feeling itself, but is supplied only by
the culture and instruction which ordinary thought com-
municates. The instructors referred to do not wish that
children and mankind generally should go beyond their
subjective emotions of love, and they represent the love
of God as being like that of parents to their children,
who love them, and should love them just as they are :
they pride themselves on abiding in the love of God,
and while they tread all divine and human laws under
foot, they think and say they have not injured love.
But if love is to be pure, it must first renounce selfish-
ness, it must have freed itself, and Spirit is only freed
when it has come outside of itself and has once beheld the
i$o THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Substantial as Another and a Higher over against itself.
It is only when it has taken up a definite position
toward the absolute power, toward the awe-inspiring
Object, and thereby has come outside of itself in it,
freed itself from itself and yielded itself up, that Spirit
truly returns to itself. That is to say, the fear of God
is the presupposition of true love. What the essentially
True is must reveal itself to the heart as an independent
existence, in relation to which it renounces itself, and
only through this mediation, through the restoration of
itself, wins true freedom.
When the objective truth exists for me, I have emptied
myself of myself, I have kept nothing for myself, and
have at the same time conceived of this truth as mine.
I have identified myself with it, and have maintained
myself in it, but as pure passionless self-consciousness.
This relation — Faith — as the absolute identity of the
content with myself, is the same thing as religious feel-
ing, but with this difference, that it at the same time
expresses that absolute objectivity which the content has
for me. The Church and the Eeformers knew perfectly
well what they meant by faith. They did not say that
men are saved by feeling, by sensation (ata-Oijai^), but
by faith, so that in the absolute object I have freedom,
which essentially includes the renunciation of my own
will and pleasure, and of particular conviction.
Now since, as compared with feeling, in which the
content exists as a specific state of the subject, and con-
sequently as contingent, idea implies that the content is
lifted up into objectivity, it is in connection with the
latter of these that the content should justify itself on
its own account on the one hand, and on the other, that
the necessity of its essential connection with self-con-
sciousness should be explained.
It is to be observed here, however, in reference to
what primarily concerns the content itself, that the value
which it has in idea is that of something given, of which
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 151
all that is known is that it is so; then over against
this abstract immediate objectivity, the connection of the
content with self-consciousness appears, to begin with, as
one which has still a purely subjective character. The
content, it is then said, commends itself to me for its own
sake, and the witness of the Spirit teaches me to recog-
nise it as truth, as my essential determination. And,
undoubtedly, the infinite idea of the Incarnation for
example — that speculative central point — has so great a
power in it that it penetrates irresistibly into the heart
which is not as yet darkened by reflection. But here
my own connection with the content is not yet truly
developed, and it appears only as something instinctive.
The Ego, which turns itself in this manner to the content,
does not require merely to be this simple and ingenuous
Ego, it can be worked upon and inwardly moulded in
various ways. Thus incipient reflection, which goes
beyond adherence to what is given, may already have
perplexed me, and perplexity in this region is all the
more dangerous and serious, that, owing to it, morality
and every other stay in myself and in life, in action and
in the state, become unstable. The experience, accord-
ingly, that I cannot help myself by means of reflection,
that I cannot, in fact, take my stand upon myself at all,
and the circumstance that I still crave after something
that stands firm — all this forces me back from reflection
and leads me to adhere to the content in the form in
which it is given. Yet this return to the content is not
brought about by means of the form of inward necessity,
and is only a result of despair, in that I know not where
to turn, nor how to help myself in any other way than
by taking that step. Or it may be that we reflect on the
wonderful way in which religion has spread, and how
millions have found comfort, satisfaction, and dignity
in it. To cut oneself off from this authority is declared
to be perilous, and the authority of private individual
opinion is laid aside in its favour. But here too a false
152 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
turn is taken, in that personal conviction is subjugated to
general authority, and in relation to it is silenced. The
consolation lies only in the supposition that the manner
in which millions have regarded the matter must probably
be right, and the possibility remains that, on being looked
at once more, it may turn out to be otherwise.
All these aspects of thought may be put into the form
of evidences of the truth of religion, and they have had
this form given to them by apologists. But this only
introduces mere arguing and reflection, a form of reasoning
which does not take to do with the content of truth in
its essential nature, which only brings forward credi-
bilities or probabilities, and instead of contemplating the
truth in its essential nature is only able to conceive of it
in connection with other circumstances, occurrences, and
conditions. And besides, although Apologetics, with its
mere arguings, passes over into the region of thought and
the drawing of conclusions, and seeks to bring forward
grounds or reasons which are supposed to be different
from authority, yet its principal ground is again a mere
authority, namely, the divine one that God has revealed
to man what he has to represent to himself in the form
of an idea. Without this authority apologetics cannot
stir for a single moment, and this perpetual mixing up and
confusion of thought, or syllogistic reasoning and authority,
is essential to the standpoint. But since from this point
of view it is inevitable that the arguing process should
go on ad infinitum, that supreme divine authority is in
turn seen to be one which itself stands in need of proof
and rests upon an authority. For we were not present,
and did not see God when He gave the revelation. It is
always others only who tell us of it, and assure us of the
fact, and the very witness of these others, who lived
through the history, or who at first learned it from eye-
witnesses, is, according to those apologists, to be the
means of uniting our conviction with a content which is
separated from us as to time and space. Yet even this
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 153
mediation is not absolutely secure, for we are dependent
here on the- constitution of the medium which stands
between us and the content, namely the perception of
others. The power of perceiving the meaning of events
demands prosaic understanding and its culture, and
therefore conditions which were not present among those
of olden times, for they lacked the capacity to grasp the
history on its finite side, and to draw out of it the inner
meaning which it contains, since the antithesis of poetry
and prose was not as yet defined with absolute distinct-
ness. And if we place the divine in the historical, we
continually get into the element of instability and want
of fixed character which essentially belong to all that is
historical. The prosaic understanding and unbelief took
up a position of antagonism to the miracles of which the
apostles tell us, and, regarding the matter from the
objective side, there is the further objection of the want
of proper proportion between miracle and the Divine.
But even if all these ways of bringing about the
connection of the content of idea or ordinary thought
with self-consciousness for once attain their end, if the
apologetic style of argument with its reasons has brought
some to conviction, or if I with the needs, impulses, and
sorrows of my heart have found comfort and tranquillity
in the content of religion, it is a mere accident that this
has taken place. This result depends on the fact that
this very standpoint of reflection and inner feeling has
not as yet been disturbed and has not yet aroused in itself
the presentiment of the existence of a Higher Being. It
is therefore dependent on an accidental sense of defect.
I, however, do not consist merely of this heart and
feeling, or of this good-natured reflection which shows
itself compliant to the apologetics of the understanding,
and naively welcomes it and is on]y too glad when it
perceives reasons which are adequate, and suitable to it,
but I have other and higher needs besides. I am also
concretely determined in an entirely simple and universal
154 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
way, so that the determinateness in me is pure simple
determinateness. That is to say, I am the absolutely
concrete Ego, thought determining itself in itself ; I exist
as the Notion. This is another mode of iny being con-
crete ; here I do not only seek satisfaction for my heart, but
the Notion seeks satisfaction, and it is as compared with
the Notion that the religious content in the mode of
idea or ordinary thought keeps the form of externality.
Although many a great and richly endowed nature, and
many a profound intelligence has found satisfaction in
religious truth, yet it is the Notion, this inherently con-
crete thought, which is not as yet satisfied, and which
asserts itself to begin with as the impulse of rational
insight. If the as yet indefinite expression, " reason,
rational insight," be not reduced merely to this, that
something or other is certain for me as an external specific
fact ; if, on the contrary, thought have so determined itself
that the object stands firm to me on its own basis, and is
founded in itself, then it is the Notion which as univer-
sal thought differentiates itself in itself and in the differ-
entiation remains identical with itself. Whatever further
content in regard to the will or intelligence I may have
in what is rational, the essential matter is always that
such content should be known by me as founded in itself,
that I have in it the consciousness of the Notion ; that is
to say, not conviction merely, certainty, and conformity
with principles which are otherwise held to be true, and
under which I subserve it, but that in it I have the truth
as truth, in the form of truth — in the form of the abso-
lutely concrete, and of that which absolutely and perfectly
harmonises with itself.
And thus it is that idea melts into the form of thought,
and it is this quality of form which philosophic know-
ledge imparts to truth. From this it is clear that nothing
is further from the aim of philosophy than to overthrow
religion, and to maintain forsooth that the content of
religion cannot for itself be truth. On the contrary, it is
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 155
just religion which is the true content, only in the form
of idea or ordinary thought, and it is philosophy which
must first supply substantial truth, nor has mankind
had to wait for philosophy in order to receive the con-
sciousness of truth.
III. — THE NECESSITY AND MEDIATION OF THE RELIGIOUS
ATTITUDE IN THE FORM OF THOUGHT.
That inner connection and absolute necessity into
which the content of idea is transplanted in thought is
nothing else but the Notion in its freedom, in such a
form that all content comes to be determination of the
Notion, and is harmonised with or equalised with the Ego
itself. The determinateness is here absolutely my own ;
in it, Spirit has its own essential nature as object, and
the given character, the authority and externality of the
content, vanish for me.
Thought consequently gives to self -consciousness the
absolute relation of freedom. Idea or ordinary concep-
tion still keeps within the sphere of outward necessity,
since all its moments, while bringing themselves into
relation with each other, do this without in any way
yielding up their independence. The relation of these
elements in thought, on the contrary, is that of ideality,
and this means that no element stands apart or is inde-
pendent of the rest, but each rather appears as some-
thing that is a show or semblance (Schein) in relation to
the others. Thus every distinction, every definite element,
is something transparent, not existing on its own account
in a dark and impenetrable fashion. This implies that
the objects distinguished are not independent, and do not
offer resistance to each other, but are posited in their
ideality. The relation or condition of the absence of
freedom, both that of the content and of the subject,
has now vanished, because we have now absolute cor-
respondence of the content with the form. The content
156 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
is in itself free, and its inherent appearance is its absolute
form ; and in the object the subject has before it the
action of the Idea, of the Notion which exists in and for
itself, which it itself is.
In describing thought and its development, we have
now to observe in the first place how it shows itself in
relation to idea or ordinary conception, or rather as the
inner dialectic of idea ; then, secondly, how as Reflection
it seeks to mediate the essential moments of the religious
attitude ; and finally, how as speculative thought it com-
pletes itself in the notion or conception of religion, and
does away with Reflection in the free necessity of the
Idea.
i . The Dialectic of Idea.
a. What we have here to notice first of all is that
thought dissolves this form of simplicity in which the
content exists in idea. And that is the very charge
which is so often brought against philosophy, when it is
said that it does not leave the form of idea or ordinary
thought untouched, but that it alters it, or strips off it
the content. And then, since for the ordinary conscious-
ness the truth is bound up with that form, it imagines
that if the form be altered, it will lose the content and
the essential reality, and it interprets that transformation
as destruction. If philosophy changes what is in the
form of the ordinary idea into the form of the Notion,
we are undoubtedly met with the difficulty of how to
separate in any content what is content as such, which is
thought, from what belongs to the ordinary idea as such.
But to break up the simplicity of idea or ordinary
thought only means to begin with, to get the idea of
distinct characteristics, as existing in this simple subject-
matter, and to exhibit them in such a way that it is
recognised as being something which is inherently mani-
fold. This process is directly involved in the question :
" What is that ? " Blue, for instance, is a sensuous idea.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 157
If it be asked, " What is blue ? " blue is perhaps pointed
out in order that the perception of it may be acquired ;
in the general idea, however, this perception is already
included. What is sought after in this question, when
seriously put, is rather the knowledge of the Notion ;
it is to know blue as a relation of itself within itself, to
know determinations in their distinctness and in their
unity. Blue, according to Goethe's theory, is a unity of
li^ht and dark, and of such a kind that in it the dark
O '
element is the foundation, and what disturbs this dark-
ness is something different, a light-giving element, a
medium by means of which we see this darkness. The
sky is darkness, is obscure ; the atmosphere clear ;
through this clear medium we see the blue.
Thus God, as the content of idea, is still in the form
of simplicity. Now, when we think this simple content,
distinct characteristics or attributes have to be indicated,
whose unity, so to speak, whose sum, or, more accurately,
whose identity, constitutes the object. Orientals say God
has an infinite number of names, that is, of attributes ; to
pronounce exhaustively what He is would be impossible.
If, however, we are to grasp the notion of God, He must
have distinct attributes, and these have to be reduced to
a narrow circle, in order that by means of these and the
unity of the attributes, the Object may be complete.
&. A more definite category is the following. In so
so far as a thing is thought of, it is posited in relation to
an Other. Either the object is known in itself as the
mutual relation of elements which are distinguished, or
as the relation of itself to an Other which we know out-
side of it. In idea, or ordinary conception, we always
have qualities which are distinct, whether they belong
to a whole or are arranged separately.
In thought, however, we become conscious of the
contradiction of those elements which are at the same
time supposed to constitute One. If they contradict each
other, it does not seem as if they could belong to what is
158 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
One. If, for instance, God is kind and just too, the
kindness contradicts the justice. In like manner, God
is almighty and wise. He is therefore on the one hand
the power before which everything vanishes — is not ; but
this negation of all that has a definite existence is in
contradiction with His wisdom. This last demands
something which is definite, it has an aim or purpose, it
is the limitation of that indefinite element, which power
is. In idea, each element has its place, and all rest
quietly side by side : man is free and also dependent ;
there is good and there is evil, too, in the world. In
thought the various elements are brought into mutual
relation, and then the contradiction becomes apparent.
There is something quite characteristic about the action
of reflecting thought, when it appears as the abstract un-
derstanding and takes to do with idea, when the latter ex-
presses inner qualities and relations in a sensuous, natural,
or, to speak generally, in an external shape. As the
reflecting understanding, besides, always has pre-sup-
positions of finitude, as it gives these absolute validity,
and makes them the rule or standard, overthrowing the
Idea and absolute truth if these are opposed to them,
so, too, it turns sensuous and natural specific forms, in
which, after all, idea seeks to recognise the thought of
the Universal, into quite definite finite relations, holds
fast this finiteness, and then declares idea, or ordinary
thought, to be in error. To a certain degree, it is still
the dialectic of idea itself which is contained in this
activity of the understanding, and hence the enormous
importance of the Aufklarung, which that action of under-
standing was, for the clearing up of thought. To a certain
extent, however, it is the case that here the dialectic of
idea is driven beyond its true compass, and transplanted
into the territory of formal arbitrariness or caprice.
Thus, for instance, in the popular conception or idea
of original sin, the inner relation of thought is at the
same time conceived of in the specific form of what is
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 159
natural ; but yet, by using the expression " sin," it
means to raise into the sphere of the universal the
natural element which lies in the conception of inherit-
ance. The understanding, on the contrary, conceives
of the relation in finite fashion, and thinks only of
natural possessions or of hereditary disease. It is freely
conceded that here, so far as the children are concerned,
it is a matter of accident that parents should have pro-
perty or should be tainted with disease ; children may
inherit noble rank, property, or evil without either merit
or blame. If, then, we further reflect on the fact that the
freedom of self-consciousness is superior to these condi-
tions of chance, and that in the absolutely spiritual sphere of
goodness each one has in that which he does his oiun deed,
or, it may be, his own sin, it is easy to point out the con-
tradiction involved if that which belongs absolutely to my
freedom be supposed to have come upon me from else-
where in a natural way, unconsciously and from the outside.
It is much the same when understanding attacks the
idea of the Trinity. In this idea, too, the inner thought-
relation is conceived of in an external fashion, for number
is thought in the abstract form of externality. But here
understanding holds fast the externality only, keeps to
numeration, and finds each of the Three externally com-
plete in relation to the Others. Now, if this quality
of number be made the foundation of the relation, it is
undoubtedly a complete contradiction that those who are
perfectly external in relation to one another should at
the same time be One.
c. Finally the category of necessity too comes in. In
ordinary thought space exists, there is space. Philosophic
thought desires to know the necessity of this. This
necessity lies in the fact that in thought a content is
not taken as being, as existing in simple determinateness,
in this simple relation to self merely, but essentially in
relation to an " Other," and as a relation of elements
which are mutually distinct.
160 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
What we call " necessary " is this, that if the one is,
the other is thereby posited too, the first is only deter-
mined in so far as the second exists, and conversely.
For idea or ordinary thought the finite exists, the finite
is. For philosophic thought, the finite immediately be-
comes something which does not exist on its own account,
but which requires for its existence something else, only
is in fact through an Other. For thought in general, for
definite thought, more precisely for notional comprehension
or philosophic conception there is nothing immediate.
Immediacy is the leading category of idea or ordinary
conception where the content is known in its simple
relation to self. For thought, that only exists in which
mediation is essentially present. These are the abstract,
general characteristics which belong to this abstract dis-
tinction between religious idea or conception and thought.
If, in relation to the question before us, we consider
this point more closely, all forms of immediate knowledge,
faith, feeling, &c., are seen to belong in this respect to
the category of idea or ordinary thought. And here the
question arises, " Is religion, the knowledge of God, an
immediate or a mediated knowledge ? "
2. The Mediation of the Religious Consciousness in itself.
In passing on to consider what is essentially involved in
thought and necessity, and consequently to mediation, the
demand for such a mediated knowledge comes into opposi-
tion with immediate knowledge, and it is in this aspect of
opposition that we have in the first place to consider it.
(a.) Immediate knowledge and mediation.
It is a very general opinion, and it is generally asserted
that the knowledge of God exists only in an immediate
fashion ; it is a fact of our consciousness, it is so. We
have an idea of God and the conviction that this idea
is not only subjective in us but that God also is. It is
said that religion, the knowledge of God, is faith only,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 161
that mediated knowledge is to be excluded, and that it
destroys the certainty, the security of faith, and what
really constitutes faith. Here we have this antithesis
between immediate and mediated knowledge. Thought,
concrete thought, philosophic comprehension, is mediated
knowledge. But immediacy and mediation of knowledge
are one-sided abstractions, and the one is this as much as
the other. What is meant, or presupposed, is not that
correctness or truth is to be ascribed to the one to the
exclusion of the other, to one or the other by itself, to
one of the two as isolated. Further on we shall see
that true thought or philosophical comprehension unites
both in itself, and does not exclude either.
(a.) To mediated knowledge belongs the deduction of
the one from the other, the dependence, conditionality of
one determination on another, what we call Reflection.
Immediate knowledge discards all differentiations ; it puts
away these modes of connection, and has only what is
simple, one mode of connection, one knowledge, the sub-
jective form, and then, "it is." In so far as I know
certainly that God is, knowledge is a connection be-
tween myself and this content ; as certainly as I exist,
so certainly does God exist. My being and the being of
God are thus connected together in one, and the relation
is Being. This Being is simple, and at the same time
double, or twofold.
In immediate knowledge this connection is entirely
simple ; all modes involving relation are obliterated. To
begin with, let us also conceive of it in an empirical
manner, that is, let us place ourselves at the same stand-
point as that occupied by immediate knowledge. What
speaking generally we call empirical knowledge, amounts
just to this : I simply know it, this is a fact of con-
sciousness ; I find in myself the idea of God and that
He is.
This standpoint is, that what is empirical only is to be
regarded as valid, that man is not to go beyond what he
VOL. i. L
1 62 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
finds in consciousness. It is not asked why it is found,
or how it is necessary. This would lead to cognition or
philosophical knowledge, and that is just the evil which
is to be guarded against. The empirical question then
is, " Is there an immediate knowledge ? "
To mediated knowledge belongs knowledge of necessity.
What is necessary has a cause, it must be. The exist-
ence of something else or an Other, through which or
through the existence of which it itself exists, is essential
to such knowledge. In it there is a connection of what
is differentiated. The mediation can only be merely
finite mediation. The effect, for example, is taken as
something standing on the one side, the cause as some-
thing on the other.
It is the very nature of the finite to be dependent on
an Other ; it does not exist independently, in and for
itself, or through itself; something else is necessary to
its existence. Man is physically dependent; he needs
external nature, external things. These are not produced
by his act ; they appear as self-existent in relation to
him ; he can only prolong his life in so far as they exist
and are of use to him.
The higher mediation of the Notion, of reason, is a
mediation with itself. To mediation belongs this differ-
entiation, and essential connection of Two ; such connec-
tion, namely, that the One only is, in so far as the Other
is. Now in immediacy this mediation is excluded.
(/3.) But even if we take up an empirical, an external
attitude, it will be found that there is nothing at all that
is immediate, that there is nothing to which only the
quality of immediacy belongs to the exclusion of that
of mediation, but that what is immediate is likewise
mediated, and that immediacy itself is essentially me-
diated.
It is the nature of finite things to be mediated;
finite things are created, begotten, as a star, or an
animal The man who is a father, is as much begotten,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 163
mediated, as the son. If we start from the father, then
the father is, in the first instance, what is immediate,
and the son, as the one begotten, is what is mediated.
Everything that lives, however, inasmuch as it is a
begetter, and is determined accordingly as something
which begins, something immediate, is also something
begotten.
Immediateness means, in fact. Being. It means this
simple reference to self; it is immediate, in so far as we
put the relation out of sight. If we define this existence
as being one of the related sides in the relation — as effect
— then what is without relation is recognised as something
mediated. In like manner the cause only exists in
virtue of having an effect, for otherwise it would be no
cause at all. Only in this relation, and therefore only
in this mediation, is it a cause. Everything that exists
(we do not as yet speak of mediation with self), since it
requires an Other for its being, that is to say, for its
immediacy, is in so far mediated.
The sphere of Logic is that of the Dialectic in which
Being is considered as that which, if taken as something
immediate, is untrue. The truth of Being is Becom-
ing ; Becoming is a single determination, self-related ; it
is a something immediate, an entirely simple idea, but
it contains both determinations — Being and Not-Being.
There is no Immediate ; the truth rather being that it is
a mere scholastic notion. Only in this bad sense is there
any such thing as immediacy.
It is just the same with regard to immediate know-
ledge, which is a particular mode, a kind of immediacy ;
there is no immediate knowledge. " Immediate know-
ledge " exists where we have not the consciousness of
mediation ; all the same, it is mediated. We have feel-
ings, and this is something immediate ; we have percep-
tion, and that appears under the form of immediacy.
When, however, we have to do with thought-determina-
tions, with the categories of thought, we must not stop
164 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
short with knowing how anything first presents itself,
but find out whether this is actually its nature.
If, for instance, we consider a perception, we see that
I am the knowledge, the perception, and that further
there is an Other, an object ; or, if it is not conceived of
as objective, but as subjective, there is at least some
determinateness or conscious state present for me. In
sensation, I ana thus mediated only by means of the
object, by means of the definite character of my sensa-
tion. It is always a content ; two elements go to the
making of it. Knowledge is absolutely simple, but I
must know something ; if I am mere knowledge, I know
nothing at all. It is the same with pure seeing. In
pure seeing I see nothing at all. Pure knowledge may
be called immediate, it is simple ; but if knowledge be
actual, be real, we have then what knows and what is
known, we have relation and mediacy.
Speaking more definitely, religious knowledge is essen-
tially a mediated knowledge, but all the same it is not
admissible to look in a one-sided way upon mere medi-
ated knowledge as being real and true. To whatever
religion a man may belong, every one knows that he was
brought up in it, that he received instruction in it. This
instruction, this up-bringing, supplies me with my know-
ledge ; my knowledge is mediated through doctrine, educa-
tion, &c.
Besides, if it be positive religion that is in question,
it is revealed, and that in a manner external to the
individual ; there the faith in the religion is essentially
mediated through revelation. These circumstances and
doctrines, and this revelation, are not of a chance char-
acter, they are not accidental, but are essential; they
undoubtedly have to do with an external relation, but
this relation is not non-essential on account of its being
external.
If we now turn our attention to the other side, the
inner side, and forget that faith, conviction, has this
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 165
mediated character, we are then in a position to consider
it as independent. It is just here for the most part that
the assertion of immediate knowledge comes in ; we
have immediate knowledge of God it is said ; this is a
revelation in us. This is a great principle, which it is
essential we should hold fast ; it involves the truth that
positive revelation cannot supply a religion in such a way
that it could have the character of something mechani-
cally produced, of something effected from the outside,
and set up within man by an external agency.
Here the old saying of Plato is in place, that man
learns nothing, he only remembers ; the truth is some-
thing which man originally carries within himself; ex-
pressed in an outward, and not in a philosophical way,
it is his remembering a content which was known in a
preceding state. Here it is represented mythically, but
it involves the thought that religion, justice, morality, all
that is spiritual, is only aroused in man ; he is potentially
Spirit, the truth lies in him, and what has to be done is
merely to bring it into consciousness.
Spirit bears witness to Spirit ; this witness is the
peculiar inner nature of Spirit. In this the weighty
idea is involved that religion is not brought into man
from the outside, but lies hidden in himself, in his
reason, in his freedom, in fact. If we abstract from this
relation, and consider what this knowledge is, how this
religious feeling, this self-revelation in the Spirit is con-
stituted, it is seen to be immediacy indeed, like all know-
ledge, but immediacy which likewise contains mediation
in itself. For if / form an idea of God, this directly
involves mediation, although the reference to God is
quite direct and immediate. I exist as knowledge, and
then there is an Object, namely, God, and therefore a
relation, and knowledge as representing this relation is
mediation. I as one having knowledge in a religious
way have this character only by means of this content
which is in my knowledge.
166 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
If we look at religious knowledge more closely, it
shows itself not only to be the simple relation of myself
to the object, but to be knowledge of a much more con-
crete kind. This purely simple relation, the knowledge
of God, is inner movement, or to put it more accurately,
it is a rising up or elevation to God. We describe reli-
gion as being essentially this passing over, or transition
from one content to another, from the finite to the abso-
lute, infinite content.
This transition, in which the characteristics peculiar
to mediation are definitely pronounced, is of a twofold
kind. In its first form it is a passing over from finite
things, from things of the world, or from the finiteness
of our consciousness, and from this finiteness in general
which we call " ourselves," — " I," this particular subject —
to the infinite, to this infinite more strictly defined as
God. The second mode of the transition has aspects of
a more abstract kind, which are related in accordance
with a deeper, more abstract antithesis. Here the one
side is determined as God, the infinite generally, as some-
thing known by us ; the other side, to which we pass
over, is, to use a general term, determinateness as some-
thing objective, something existent. In the former transi-
tion what the two sides have in common is Being, and
this content of both sides is set down as finite and infi-
nite ; in the latter what the two have in common is the
infinite, and this is stated in the form of the subjective
and objective.
We have now to consider the relation of knowledge of
God within itself. Knowledge is relation within itself,
it is mediated ; either mediated through what is Other
than itself or within itself, but it is mediation, because in
it the reference of myself to an object takes place — a
reference to God, who is an " Other."
I and God are different from one another; if both
were One, there would then be immediate relation, free
from any mediation ; relationless unity, that is to say,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 167
unity without differentiation. Because the two are dif-
ferent, One is not what the Other is ; if, however, they
are related, if they have identity at the same time with
their difference, then this identity is itself different from
their difference ; it is something different from both of
these, because otherwise they would not be different.
Both are different, their unity is not themselves ; that
wherein they are One, is that wherein they are different ;
they are, however, different, therefore their unity is dif-
ferent from their difference. And this implies that
mediation takes place more strictly in a Third as con-
trasted with the elements of difference, and thus we have
a syllogism ; we have Two who are different, and a Third
which brings them together, in which they are mediated,
are identical.
Thus it is not merely indirectly suggested by, but is
actually involved in, the very object with which we are
dealing, that in so far as we treat of the knowledge of
God we are directly concerned with what has the form of
a syllogism. The two are different, and there is a unity,
in which they are put into One through a Third ; that
is the syllogism. Therefore we have to consider more
closely the nature of the knowledge of God, which is
essentially mediated in itself. The knowledge of God
presents itself in its more precise shape under the form
of the Proofs of the existence of God. Here the know-
ledge of God is represented as a mediated knowledge.
That only which is One, abstractly One, is unmediated.
The Proofs of the existence of God represent the know-
ledge of God, because it contains mediacy within itself.
Eeligion itself is knowledge of God. The explication or
unfolding of this knowledge, which is mediated, is an
unfolding of religion itself. But this form of proof un-
doubtedly goes somewhat on wrong lines when this
knowledge is represented as the proof of the existence
of God. Criticism has been directed against it, but the
one-sided moment of form which characterises this
i68 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
mediated knowledge, does not invalidate the whole
procedure.
What has to be done, therefore, is to restore the proofs
of the existence of God to their place of honour, by divest-
ing them of what is inadequate in them. We have God
and His existence (Daseiri); existence is determinate finite
Being ; the Being of God is not in any way whatever a
limited Being ; existence (Existenz) too is taken in the
sense of specific existence. We thus have God in His
Being, actuality, objectivity, and the process of proof has
for its object to point out to us the connection between
the two determinations, because they are different, and not
immediately One.
Everything is immediate in its relation to itself — God
as God, Being as Being. To prove is to show that those
elements which are to begin with in a condition of differ-
ence have also a connection, an identity — not a pure
identity, for that would be immediacy, sameness. To ex-
hibit a connection means, in fact, to prove; this connec-
tion may be of different kinds, and so far as the process of
proof is concerned, the kind of connection which is in
question is left undecided.
There is connection which is of an entirely external,
mechanical kind. For example, we see that a roof is
necessary to the walls ; the house has this roofed form as
protection against the weather, &c. It may be said, it is
proved that a house must have a roof ; the object is the
combination of the walls with the roof. This is certainly
a case of one thing matching with another ; it is connec-
tion, but at the same time we have the consciousness
that this connection does not concern the being of these
objects. That wood and tiles constitute a roof, does not
affect their being ; so far as they are concerned, the con-
nection is merely an external one. In this case, proof
consists in pointing out a connection between entities for
which the connection is itself external.
There are accordingly other forms of connection which
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 169
are inherent in the object, in the content itself. This is
the case, for example, as regards geometrical axioms. Given
a right-angled triangle, you have at once given a certain
relation between the square of the hypothenuse and the
squares of the containing sides. That is essential neces-
sity; here the relation is not one of those in which the
connection is external ; on the contrary, here the one can-
not be without the other ; along with the one the other is
given too.
But in this necessity, the mode in which we perceive
the necessity is different from the connection of the deter-
minations in the actual thing itself. The course which
we follow in the process of proof is not the course of the
object or actual thing itself ; it is one different from
that which is involved in the nature of the object. It is
we who draw auxiliary lines ; it would not occur to any
one to say, that a triangle in order to have its three angles
equal to two right angles takes the plan of extending one
of its angles, and only thereby acquires the property in
question. Here our perception of what is necessary, the
intermediary process which we go through, and the process
in the object itself, are different from one another.
The construction and the demonstration are only under-
taken on behalf of our subjective apprehension. It is not
objectively the case that the triangle attains by this process
to the relation or property in question ; it is only we who
get to see the truth through this process, and that is merely
subjective necessity, not a connection, not a process in the
object itself.
This kind of demonstration, these connections, are at
once seen to be unsatisfactory as regards the knowledge
of God, the inherent connection of the attributes of God,
and the connection of our knowledge of God and of His
attributes.
The unsatisfactoriness takes, more strictly speaking, the
following form: — In the course followed by subjective
necessity, just referred to, we set out from primary,
i?o THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
certainly known, determinations, from such things as are
already known to us. We have presuppositions here,
certainly known conditions, implying that the triangle,
the right-angle exists. Certainly known connections are
presupposed, and in such demonstrations we point out that,
if such and such a determination exist, then such and such
another must also exist ; that is to say, we make the result
dependent on given conditions which are already present.
The attitude assumed is that the result we aim at is
represented as something dependent upon presuppositions.
Geometrical proof, as simply the work of the understand-
ing, is undoubtedly the most perfect kind of proof ; the
proof of the understanding, in which a thing is shown to
be dependent upon something else, is carried through with
the utmost consistency and thoroughness. But when we
apply this to the Being of God, the inadequacy involved
in attempting to exhibit such a connection in regard to
God becomes evident at once. And it indeed appears
especially in that first movement which we called rising up
to God, for when we conceive of this in the form of proof,
what is implied is that the finite becomes the foundation
or basis upon which the Being of God is demonstrated.
In this connection, the Being of God appears as an infer-
ence, as dependent on the Being of the finite.
And thus the inadequacy of this process which we call
proof to exhibit that which we represent to ourselves
under the name of God, becomes apparent. For we con-
ceive of Him precisely as that which is undeduced, un-
derived, absolutely existent in and for itself. That, then,
is the perversion above referred to. But if it be thought
that in consequence of an observation of this kind, this
movement has been shown to be futile, such an idea
would in turn imply a one-sidedness which would at
once be found to be in contradiction with the universal
consciousness of man.
Man contemplates the world, and because he is a
thinking, rational being, since he finds no satisfaction in
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 171
the chance nature of things, he rises from the finite to
absolute necessity, and says, " finite being is contingent,
there must therefore be a self-existent necessity, which is
the basis of this contingency." That is the course which
human reason, the human spirit follows, and this proof
of the existence of God is nothing but the description of
that act of rising up to the infinite.
In like manner the following more concrete line of
thought will always be adopted. Since living things
exist in the world, which in virtue of their life, and as
essentially organised, constitute a harmony of diverse
component parts, and further, since these living things
stand in need of external objects, such as air, &c., which
are yet independent of them, men will always argue that
there must be an inner ground for the harmony which exists t>
between things which are not self-evidently dependent
on one another.
This harmony does actually exist, and it presupposes
an activity which has produced it, and has been exercised
in accordance with ends. To contemplate this is to
admire the wisdom of God in Nature, as it is termed, this
marvel presented by the living organism, and the har-
mony of external objects with it. From this harmony
man rises to the consciousness of God. If any one sup-
poses that in case of the form of the proofs of the exist-
ence of God being disputed these proofs are rendered
obsolete as regards their content also, he is mistaken.
But undoubtedly the content is not represented in its
purity. This deficiency may be made plain, as follows : —
It is said that in proving anything a man remains cold ;
he has to do with an objective content. He may indeed
perceive that such-and-such a thing exists, but the know-
ledge thus reached is external, the insight thus gained
remains something merely external. Such a process of
thought, it is said, is too objective ; it is cold conviction ;
this kind of insight is not in the heart, and it is in the
heart and its feelings that convictions must exist.
172 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
In this charge of deficiency it is implied that this very
process of thought is to be our own elevation ; that we are
not to behave as if we were contemplating a connection
of external determinations, but that it is the feeling, be-
lieving spirit, Spirit in fact, which is to rise or be ele-
vated. Spiritual movement, the movement of our self, of
our knowledge, is to be in it too, and we miss that when
we speak of it as an external connection of determina-
tions.
The elevation and the movement of the objective con-
tent, however, actually come to form one process, namely,
in Thought. I, in so far as I think, am myself this
passing over, or transition, this spiritual movement, and
as this movement we have now to consider Thought. To
begin with, however, it is empirical observation and re-
flexion.
(b.) Mediated knowledge as Observation and as Reflection,
Those who take up this, standpoint, which indeed is
peculiar to the present time, proceed in accordance with
the methods of empirical psychology, accept what is found
in ordinary consciousness, and accept it as it is found
there, observe the phenomena, and place outside of con-
sciousness what is the Infinite in consciousness.
Religion, from this point of view, is the conscious-
ness men have of a Higher, of something beyond
the present, outside of themselves, and existing above
themselves ; that is to say, consciousness finds itself
dependent, finite, and in this its experience it is in so far
consciousness, that it presupposes an Other, on which it
is dependent, and which is held by it to be its true
Essence, since it is itself characterised as the negative or
finite.
This observation or reflection, if we look at it in the
first place in its general form, is seen to develop itself in
the following shape : —
In consciousness, in so far as I have knowledge of an
object, and am reflected into myself as in contrast to it, I
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 173
know the object as the Other of myself, and consequently
know myself by means of the object as limited and finite.
We find ourselves to be finite ; that is the leading thought
here : as to this, there seems to be nothing further to say ;
everywhere we find an end, the end of one thing is there
where an other begins. Already, in virtue of the fact
that we have an object, we are finite ; where that begins
I am not, and thus am finite. We know ourselves to ba
finite under many and various aspects. In its physical
aspect, life is finite ; as having life we are externally de-
pendent upon others, we have wants, &c., and have the
consciousness of this limitation. We have this feeling in
common with the lower animals. Plants, minerals, too,
are finite, but these have no feeling of their limitation ;
it is the prerogative of what is living to know its limita-
tion, and still more is it a prerogative of the Spiritual.
What has life has experience of fear, dread, hunger, thirst,
&c. There is an interruption in its feeling of self, a nega-
tion ; and the feeling of this is actually present. If it be
said that religion is based upon this feeling of depen-
dence, then the lower animals too must have religion.
For man this limitation only exists in so far as he goes
above and beyond it ; the feeling, the consciousness of
limit, implies that he is above and beyond it. This
feeling is a comparison of his nature (Natur) with his
existence (Dasein) in this moment ; his actual existence
does not adequately correspond to his nature.
For us who are above and beyond its mode of exist-
ence, a stone is limited ; for itself, it is not so ; it is im-
mediately identical with that which it is. That which
constitutes its determinate being is not for it Not-Being.
An animal's feeling of limitation is a comparison of its
universality with its actual existence in this definite
moment. An animal, as living, is for itself something
universal ; it feels its limitation as negated universality,
as want. In like manner, man is essentially negative
unity, identity with himself, and he has the certainty of
174
unity with himself, the feeling of himself, of his relation
to himself. The feeling of a negation in himself con-
tradicts this. The subject, too, feels itself to be a power
as against its negation, and removes this accidental ele-
ment, that is, satisfies its want. All impulses in man, as
in the lower animals, are this affirmation of the self, and
the animal thus places itself in opposition to the negation
in itself. Life consists in the abolition of limitation, and
in this it reconciles itself with itself. This need in itself
at the same time appears as an object outside of it, over
which it obtains mastery, and thus reinstates its Self.
Thus the limitation of finiteness only exists for us in
so far as we are above and beyond it. This reflection is
too abstract to be made from the standpoint of conscious-
ness, which we are now considering, where consciousness,
on the contrary, remains within its limitation. The ob-
ject is its Not-Being. That the object is thus set down
as different from the Ego, implies that it is not that which
the Ego is. I am the finite. Thus the infinite is what
is above and beyond the limits ; it is something other
than the limited ; it is the unlimited, the infinite. Thus
we have finite and infinite.
This already implies, however, that the two sides are
in relation with one another, and it remains to be seen
how this relation determines itself. This is done in quite
a simple way.
This infinite, as being my object, is the Not-finite, Not-
particular, Not-limited, the Universal; the finite in re-
lation to the infinite is posited as the negative, dependent,
that which melts away in relation to the infinite. When
the two are brought together, a unity comes into exist-
ence through the abolition and absorption of the finite
in fact, which cannot maintain itself as against the infinite.
Expressed in terms of feeling, this condition is that of
fear, of dependence. Such is the relation of the two, but
it has another characteristic besides.
On the one hand, I determine myself as the finite; on
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 175
the other, I am not annihilated in the relation, I relate
myself to myself. I am, I subsist ; I am also the Affir-
mative. On the one side I know myself as having no
real existence ; on the other, as affirmative, as having a
valid existence, so that the infinite leaves me my own
life. This may be called the goodness of the infinite, as
the abrogation of the finite may be called its justice, in
accordance with which the finite must be manifested as
finite.
Such is consciousness in this specific form, beyond and
above which observation does not go. It is accordingly
maintained that if we go thus far, the whole of religion
is contained in what we have here. We can, how-
ever, go further ; we can know that man can know God,
but here we are arbitrarily, as it were, brought to a
halt ; or, since we wish to observe and nothing more, it
is supposed that we must continue to remain in this
particular phase of consciousness. Observation can only
exercise itself on the subject, and cannot go further,
since it purposes to go to work only empirically, to
adhere to what is immediately present, to what is given,
and God is not anything that permits of being made the
subject of observation. Here, therefore, the object can
only be what is in us as such, and what we are as finite
beings. From this point of view God determines him-
self as the Infinite only, as the Other of the finite, as
what is beyond it. In so far as He is, I am not. In so
far as He touches me, the finite shrinks into nothing.
God is thus characterised as involving an antithesis which
seems absolute. The finite, it is said, cannot grasp,
attain to, or understand the Infinite. Beyond this stand-
point, it is said, we cannot go. We are told that ill it
we have everything that we need to know concerning
God and religion, and what is beyond that, is " of evil."
It might, indeed, be stated in reply, as matter of observa-
tion, that we can know God, that we have some know-
ledge of a rich manifestation of His life and spiritual
i;6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
nature. That, however, according to the view just in-
dicated, would be " of evil."
If a man has placed himself at the standpoint of em-
pirical procedure, of observation, it is quite true that he
cannot go further, for to observe means to keep the
content of observation before one in an external way.
But this externality or limitation is the finite, which is
external in reference to an Other, and this Other is as
the Infinite, what is beyond and above it. If I now go
further, and begin to consider the matter from a spiritu-
ally higher standpoint of consciousness, I find myself no
longer observing, but I forget myself in entering into the
object; I bury myself in it, while I strive to know, to
understand God ; I yield up myself in it, and if I do
this, I am no longer in the attitude of empirical con-
sciousness, of observation. If God be no longer to me a
something beyond and above me, I am no longer a pure
observer. In so far, therefore, as a man intends to
observe, he must remain at this standpoint. And this
constitutes the entire wisdom of our time.
Men stop at the finiteness of the subject ; this ranks
here as what is highest, the ultimate, as what is im-
movable, unchangeable, hard as brass; and then over
against it there is an Other, at which this subject finds
its end. This Other, called God, is a something beyond
the present, after which we search owing to the feeling
of our finiteness, but we do nothing more, for our finite-
ness is fixed and absolute.
The fact of our being above and beyond the limit is, it
is true, conceded ; this going out of ourselves is, however,
merely something attempted, a mere yearning which
does not attain to that which it seeks. To reach the
object, to know it, would mean, in fact, to give up my
finiteness. But this is what is ultimate, and is not to
be given up, and in it we are complete, satisfied, and are
reconciled to it.
This entire standpoint must now be looked at more
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 177
narrowly, and we must see what constitutes its general
character, and estimate what is essential in it.
There is in it the determinateness of my finiteuess, of
my relativity. The infinite stands over against it, but as
something beyond. My affirmation, my determination
as existing, alternates with the negation which I am
essentially determined as being. We shall see that both
negation and affirmation come to coincide, and the
absoluteness of the Ego will be seen to issue as the
result.
1. There is here on the one hand a going out of my
finiteness to a Higher ; on the other, I am determined as
the negative of this Higher. The latter remains an Other,
which cannot be determined by me, which is unattained
by me, in so far as determination is to get an objective
sense. What is present is only this going out on my
part, this aiming to reach what is remote ; I remain on
this side, as it were, have a yearning after what is beyond
the present and actual.
2. It is to be remarked that this reaching out to-
wards something beyond the actual is absolutely and
solely mine. It is my deed, my aiming, my emotion, my
desire and endeavour. If I make use of the predicates
all-good, almighty, as characterising that something be-
yond, they have a meaning in me only, they have a sub-
jective and not an objective meaning, and they belong
absolutely and solely to that aiming of mine. My absolute
fixed finiteuess hinders me from reaching that something
beyond. To relinquish my finiteness and to reach it
would be one and the same thing. The interest or
motive not to reach that something beyond, and the
interest I have in maintaining myself, are identical.
3. It becomes clear from this that the twofold nega-
tivity, that of myself as finite and that of an Infinite over
against me, has its seat in the Ego itself, and is only, on
the one hand, a division in myself — the fact, the deter-
mination that I am the negative ; on the other hand,
VOL. i. M
1 78 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
however, the negative is determined as an "Other" in regard
to me. This second determination belongs to me likewise ;
they represent different tendencies ; one going toward
myself and one toward what is outside myself — the latter
of which, however, likewise belongs to me ; my tendency
to reach out toward what is beyond and my finiteuess, are
determinations in me ; in them I remain self-contained
or at home with myself. Thus, in this way the Ego
has become affirmative in regard to itself, and it is this
which constitutes the other side of this standpoint. My
affirmation expresses itself thus : " I am." This is some-
thing distinct from my finiteness, and is the annulling of
my finiteness. In respect of the sense of yearning, en-
deavour, the feeling of obligation generally, it means, " I
am what I ought to be ; " that is to say, " I am good by
nature ; " that is to say, " I am, and that inasmuch as I
am immediately good." In this respect, my sole concern
is to maintain myself in this state. There is, it is true,
also a possibility in me of entering into relation to what
is other than myself, a possibility of sin, of faults, &c.
This, however, directly assumes the character of something
which is subsequent, something external and accidental.
" I am," that is a relation to myself, an affirmation ; " I
am as I ought to be," the faultiness is, what the Ego is
not ; and that is not in what constitutes the root of my
nature, but is in fact an accidental complication.
This point of view of affirmation may therefore be con-
sidered, doubtless, as implying that I stand related to an
external element, and that my goodness may be tarnished.
My affirmation in relation to such wrongdoing as is here
implied, then, becomes a mediated one too. It becomes
affirmation which recovers itself out of such isolation,
being mediated through the removal of a faultiness which
in itself is only accidental. The goodness of my nature
has returned to identity with itself. This reconciliation
eliminates nothing intrinsic, it does not touch what be-
longs to my inmost nature, but only does away with what
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 179
is external. The world, the finite, reconciles itself in
this way with itself. If the truth has hitherto been ex-
pressed by saying that God has reconciled the world with
Himself, this reconciliation is now seen to take place in
me as finite. I, as an individual, am good ; when I have
fallen into error I only need to cast what is accidental
from me and I am reconciled with myself. The inner
life is only disturbed on the surface ; this disturbance
does not reach to its foundation ; the spirit has not formed
any relation with it ; it keeps outside of it, and is not
implicated in it. The inner life, the spirit, is what is
originally good, and the negative does not get its specific
character within the nature of the spirit itself.
In the older theology, on the contrary, you had the
idea of eternal damnation. This presupposed that the
will was absolutely free. According to this, what I am
depends not upon my nature, but upon my self-conscious
will: I am guilty through the will. Thus my nature,
what I originally am, is not goodness ; I can attribute no
goodness to myself outside of my will : that quality per-
tains only to my self-conscious spirit. Here, on the other
hand, it is the goodness of the original state only which
is assumed, and the effects produced on it by what is other
than itself are done away with through the restoration of
what is original. To this goodness of the original state
nothing further can be added than the knowledge of it —
the conviction of the belief in one's goodness; and that
reconciling mediation consists merely in this conscious-
ness, this knowledge that I am by nature good, and is
consequently a worthless and empty see-saw system. I
swing myself, so to speak, over into a longing for and in
the direction o'f the " Beyond," or, it may be, into a recog-
nition of the faults I have committed; and again I swing
myself within the limits of this longing and emotion
which have their place purely within me, back to myself,
and in all this I never travel beyond myself.
This is the abstract characterisation of this attitude.
l8o THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Were it further developed, all the views characteristic of
the present time would coincide with it, as, for example,
that goodness exists only in my conviction, and that upon
this conviction my morality is based ; and again, that
what is good rests or depends entirely upon my nature.
My conviction is sufficient so far as I am concerned.
That I know the action to be good is enough, so far as I
am concerned. There is no need for having a further
consciousness of the substantial or essential nature of the
action. If, however, it depend upon that consciousness
alone, I can, strictly speaking, commit no fault at all, for
to myself I am only affirmative, while the division or
dualism remains formal, a semblance of division, which
does not disturb my essential inner life. My yearning, my
emotion, is what is substantial. This point of view em-
braces all the opinions of recent times since the Kantian
philosophy, which was the first to advance this belief in
goodness.
Such is the standpoint of subjective consciousness.
This consciousness develops the antitheses which concern
consciousness, but which remain in it, and which it holds
under its control, because it is the Affirmative.
We have now to consider what finiteness itself is, and
what true relation the finite has to the infinite. That the
human spirit is finite we hear daily affirmed. We shall
speak of finiteness in the popular sense first, the sense sug-
gested when it is said that man is finite, and then we shall
use it in the true sense, which represents the rational
view of it.
There are three forms in which finiteness appears,
namely, in sensuous existence, in reflection, and in the
mode in which it exists in Spirit and for Spirit,
(a.) Finiteness in Sensuous Existence.
That man is finite means, in the first place, that I as man
stand in relation to what is other than myself. There is
actually present an Other, the negative of myself, with
which I am in connection, and that constitutes my finite-
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 181
ness. We are mutually exclusive, and are independent in
relation to each other. Such I am in virtue of my having
sensuous experience ; all that is living is thus exclusive.
In hearing and seeing I have only what is individual
before me, and in my practical relation to things I have
always to do with what is only single or individual ; the
objects which give me satisfaction are in like manner
individual. This is the standpoint of natural Being, of
natural existence. According to this I exist in manifold
relations, in external Being of a manifold kind, in the
region of experiences, needs, practical and theoretical
relations, all of which, according to their content, are
limited and dependent, finite, in short. The annulling
of what is finite is already found to have its place within
this finiteness ; every impulse as subjective relates itself
to what is Other than itself, is finite ; but in satisfying
itself it annuls this relation, this finite character. This
return into its affirmation is its satisfaction. On the
other hand, however, it remains finite, for the satisfied
impulse reawakens, and the annulling of the negation
ngain becomes a sense of need. Satisfaction, this infinitely
recurring feeling, is only an infinitude of form, and there-
fore is not a truly concrete infinitude. The content
remains finite, and thus the satisfaction remains finite
too, just as the need as such involves defect and is finite.
According to the former side, however, the need annuls
its finiteness when it satisfies itself. The satisfaction
of hunger is an annulling of the separation between me
and my object, it is an annulling of finiteness, yet only a
formal annulling.
Nature is not complete and independent, does not
exist in and for itself; on the contrary, it is just this
fact of its being something which is not self-posited
which constitutes its finiteness. Our sensuous conscious-
ness, too, in so far as we have to do in it with singulars
or particulars, belongs to this natural finiteness, and this
latter has to manifest itself. The finite is determined as
1 82 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the negative, it must free itself from itself. This first
natural, simple self-emancipation of the finite from its
finiteness is death. This is the renunciation of the finite,
and here what natural life is itself implicitly is made ex-
plicit really and actually. The sensuous life of what is
individual or particular has its end in death. Particular
experiences or sensations as particular are transient ; one
supplants the other, one impulse or passion drives away
another. In its annihilation, this sensuous element
makes its true nature actually explicit. In death the
finite is shown to be annulled and absorbed. But death
is only the abstract negation of what is implicitly nega-
tive ; it is itself a nullity, it is revealed nullity. But
explicit nullity is at the same time nullity which has
been done away with, and is the return to the Positive.
Here cessation, liberation from finiteness comes in. Death
does not present itself to consciousness as this emancipa-
tion from finiteness, but this higher view of death is
found in thought, and indeed even in popular concep-
tions, in so far as thought is active in them.
(/3.) Finiteness from the point of view of Reflection.
We now rise out of immediate consciousness to the
level of Eeflection — and here we have again to do with
a finitude which appears in definite contrast to infinitude.
This antithesis has different forms, and the question is
what these are. There is an emancipation from finite-
ness here, but in this sphere the true infinity is as yet
only abrogated or annulled Jiniteness. And, therefore, the
question arises, Does reflection get the length of positing
the finite as something which is in itself null, or does
reflection accomplish as much as nature ? Can reflection
make that die which is mortal, or is that which is null
immortal to it ? Since it is null we ought to cause it to
variish, for what is possible to nature must be yet more
possible to infinite spirit. Thus reflection, like nature,
exhibits the finite as null. But nature always falls back
again into the finite, and in like manner what constitutes
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 183
the standpoint of reflection is that it persists in holding
fast the antithesis, the finiteness, as against infinitude.
It is just the mutual relation of these two which consti-
tutes the standpoint of reflection ; both of them belong to
the antithesis which characterises this standpoint. That
is to say, advance is made to the infinite only as the
abstract negation of the finite, as the not-finite, which,
however, as not containing the finite in itself as part of
itself, remains over against the finite as an Other, and so
itself a finite, which finite again advances to an infinite,
and so on ad infinitum.
(a.a.) The externality or mutual exclusion of finiteness
and universality.
If we consider the first antithesis of finite and infinite
in Eeflection, finiteness is a varied, manifold externality,
of which each component part is particular or limited.
In contrast to this, the manifoldness determines itself in
its universality, its unlimitedness, as the Universal in this
multiplicity. This form presents itself thus in a concrete
shape in our consciousness.
We have knowledge of many things, but always of
single things only. As desiring or willing, the spirit
is determined in accordance with particular ends and
interests. But in both relations, whether forming ideas
or willing, the spirit behaves as exclusive particularity, and,
therefore, stands in connection with other independent
things. Here, too, the element of contrast comes in,
for the spirit compares its actually existing singularity
with its singularity as universally determined or conceived.
I compare the stores of knowledge which I actually
possess with the mass of knowledge of which I form an
idea. I find that these two, namely my actuality, and
the universality of which I form a conception, do not
correspond with each other, and it is made imperative
that the actual quantity of knowledge should be further
advanced and perfected, made exhaustive, and brought
to universality In like manner, it is possible in prac-
1 84 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
tical life to plan to reach a universality of satisfaction,
completeness of impulse and of enjoyment, and then to
name this felicity. The one totality is called univer-
sality of knowledge, the other totality that of possession,
of satisfaction, of desire, of enjoyment. But here the
totality is thought of as multiplicity and allness only,
and it, therefore, remains in contrast with the finiteness,
which cannot possess all. Thus the Ego is still some-
thing exclusive over against something exclusive, and,
therefore, the many is absolutely exclusive in relation to
another many ; and all is merely an abstraction which we
apply to much or the many, but which remains external
to it. Thus it is found that the range of knowledge
has no limits, and that the flight from star to star is
limitless. It may indeed be supposed that natural science
may get to know all animals, yet not so as to be able to
penetrate into their most subtle characteristics. It is
the same with the satisfaction of impulses : man may
attain to many interests and ends, but not to all or not
to happiness itself; allness is an ideal which cannot be
reached. This finiteness remains, just because it is a
something that is true. The untrue is the unity or
universality ; the multiplicity would have to yield up
its character, in order to be posited under unity. The
ideal is, therefore, unattainable, just because it is untrue
in itself, a unity of many, which are at the same time
to remain manifold and separate. Further, the end, the
ideal, on this side of which a man stops short, is itself
something essentially finite, and for this very reason I
must stop short on this side of it, for in reaching it I
should still only reach what is finite.
(/3./3.) The antithesis of the finite and the infinite.
We have now to consider the form of the antithesis
of the finite and infinite, as it is seen in Eeflection as
such. This is finitude in contrast to infinitude, each
being posited for itself, posited independently, not merely
as predicate, but as an essential antithesis, and in such
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 185
a way that the one is determined as the other of the
other. And "here, too, finiteness remains, and just for
this reason, that the infinite which stands over against
it is itself a finite, and a finite in fact which is posited
as the other of the first or finite. Only the true infinite,
which posits itself as finite, overlaps itself so to speak
as its Other, and remains in it, because it is its own other
in unity with itself. But if the one, the infinite, be
only defined as the not-many, not-finite, it remains on
the other side beyond the many and the finite ; and thus
the many of the finite itself is likewise left standing on
its own account without being able to attain to its some-
thing beyond.
It is now time to inquire whether this antithesis has
truth in it, that is to say, whether these two sides drop
apart, and exist as mutually exclusive. With regard to
this it has been said already that when we posit the
finite as finite, we are above and beyond it. In the
limitation we have a limit but only inasmuch as we are
above and beyond it, it is no longer the affirmative.
Just because we are at it, conscious of it, we are no
longer at it.
The finite relates itself to the infinite ; each is exclusive
with regard to the other. Considered more closely, the
finite is regarded as that which is limited, its limit being
the infinite.
Under the first form one Particular gave limits to an
other; here the finite has its limit in the infinite itself.
Now if the finite is limited by the infinite and stands on
one side, the infinite itself is something limited too ;
it has its boundary in the finite ; it is that which the
finite is not ; it has something which is on the yonder
side of it and is thus finite, limited. Thus we have,
instead of the Highest, something which is a Finite.
We have not what we desire, we have in this infinite
only a finite. Or if it be said, on the other hand, that
the infinite is not limited, then the finite, too, is not
186 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
limited. Aud if it be not limited, then it is not dif-
ferent from, the infinite, but merges in it, is identical
with it in infinitude, as it was before in finitude. Such
is the abstract nature of this antithesis. It is necessary
to retain this in the mind ; to hold it fast is of absolute
importance all through in regard to all forms of reflective
consciousness and of philosophy. The antithesis itself
vanishes when the two sides are absolutely opposed ; both
sides of the relation vanish into empty moments and
that which is and remains is the unity of the two, in
which they are abrogated and preserved.
The finite conceived of in its more concrete form is
the Ego, and the infinite is at first what is beyond this
finite, its negative. As the negative of the negative,
however, the infinite is the affirmative. Consequently it
is to the infinite that we ascribe affirmation, that which
has being, what is beyond in relation to the Ego, to my
self-consciousness, to my consciousness, as power, as will.
But it has been remarked that it is the Ego itself which
has here to begin with defined what is beyond as the
affirmative ; with this, however, that Ego is placed in
contrast, the Ego, that is, which we before defined as the
affirmative, in short, " I am immediate ; I am one with
myself."
If consciousness determines itself as finite, and if
beyond it is the infinite, this Ego makes the same re-
flection which we have made, namely, that that infinite is
only a vanishing infinite, only a thought posited by my-
self. I am the one who produces that something beyond,
and I determine myself by means of it as finite. Both
are my product, in me they vanish ; I am lord and
master of this determination, and thus the second fact is
posited, namely, that /am the affirmative which is placed
beyond, I am the negation of the negation, I am that in
which the antithesis vanishes, I am the act of reflection
which annihilates both. The Ego thus, by means of its own
act of reflection, destroys those self-dissolving antitheses.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 187
(7.7.) The absolute maintenance of the finite in re-
flection.
Having now reached this point, we desire to see how
it fares with the finite, whether it is possible to get away
from it in a real and actual way, and whether it secures
its right, the right, namely, to become truly abrogated and
absorbed, to divest itself of finiteness, or whether it re-
mains in its finiteness, and gets the form of the infinite
merely because the infinite is a finite as contrasted with it.
It would seem here as if reflection did not mean to leave
standing what is for it a nonentity, and as if self-con-
sciousness meant to deal seriously with its finiteness, and
really to divest itself of it. That, however, is precisely what
does not happen here. It makes a mere show of doing
this. What occurs here is rather that the finite main-
tains itself ; I cling to myself, I do not give up my
nullity, but make myself infinite therein, constitute my-
self an active operative infinite. What we have there-
fore here is that the finite Ego, inasmuch as it is the
positing of an infinite beyond itself, has posited the
infinite itself as a finite, and is therein identical with
itself as that which is in like manner finite, and now as
being identical with the infinite becomes infinite itself.
This is the culminating point of subjectivity, which clings
fast to itself, the finiteness which remains and renders
itself infinite in its very finiteness, the infinite subjec-
tivity, which has done with all content. But this very
subjectivity, this culmination of finiteness still maintains
itself ; in it all content evaporates, and is rendered
vain ; the only thing that does not vanish, however, is
this vanity. This culmination has the appearance of
being a renunciation of the finite, but it is just in it that
finiteness, as such still maintains itself. Speaking more
definitely, abstract self-consciousness, pure thought, is as
it were the absolute power of negativity to make short
work with everything, but the power which still main-
tains itself as this definite Ego, while it yields up the
1 88 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
whole of finitude, and yet expresses this finite as infini-
tude, as the universal affirmative. What is wanting here
is objectivity. In true renunciation all depends on whether
this culmination of subjectivity still has an object.
The standpoint which has been considered is reflection
in its completeness, the abstract subjectivity, the Ego,
the absolute idealiser, that for which all distinction, de-
termination, content is annulled, or exists only as posited
by it. I am that which determines, and I alone, and I
am this as the individual unit, as the immediate self, as
I, who am immediate.
lu all content I am immediate relation or reference to
myself, that is to say, I am Being, and this I am as
particularity, as the relation of negativity to itself. That
which is posited by me is posited as distinct from me —
as the negative, and thus as negated, as only posited. I
am, consequently, immediate negativity. Thus I, this
exclusive Ego, in my state of immediacy, that is to say,
in my feelings, opinions, in the caprice and contingency of
my feeling and willing, am the affirmative in general, am
good. All objective content, law, truth, duty vanish for
me. I recognise nothing, nothing that is objective, no
truth. God, the Infinite, is for me something beyond
this world, something held aloof from me. I alone am
the Positive, and no content has value on its own
account, it has no longer affirmation in itself, but only
in so far as I lay it down. The True and the Good
exist in my conviction only, and all that is needful in
order that a thing be good is this conviction, this recog-
nition of mine. In this ideality of all determinations or
categories I alone am the Eeal. This attitude at first
gives itself out to be that of humility, and what such
humility consists in is this, that the Ego shuts out from
itself the Infinite, the knowledge and rational appre-
hension of God, renounces it, and characterises itself in
reference to it as finite. But in so doing this humility
contradicts itself ; it is pride rather, for I shut out the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 189
truth from myself, and take up the position that I as
this particular unit actually here, am alone the affirma-
tive, and am what has absolute Being, in presence of
which all else vanishes away. True humility, on the
contrary, renounces itself, renounces its particular exist-
ence and its claim to be the affirmative, and recognises
the True, that which has absolute Being, as alone the
affirmative. In contrast to this, that false humility,
while it recognises the finite as the negative, the limited,
makes it at the same time the only Affirmative, Infinite,
and Absolute. I, this particular unit, alone am the sole
essentiality,1 that is to say, I, this finite, am the infinite.
The infinite, declared to be what is beyond the present and
actual, is posited only through me. In this determination
the unity of the finite and infinite is contained, but a unity
of such a kind that the finite is not merged in it, but has
become what is fixed, absolute, perennial. This unity being
posited by means of the finite Ego, the unity itself becomes
a finite unity. The Ego simulates humility, while in fact
it is inflated beyond measure with vain and empty pride.
On the other hand, since the knowledge of something
higher disappears, and only subjective emotion, mere
good pleasure is left, there is no objective common
element to bind individuals together, and in presence
of the unlimited diversity in their feeling, their mutual
attitude is one of enmity, hatred, and contempt.
The difficulty of getting a grasp of this point of view
is owing to the fact that in this aspect of it, the extreme,
culminating point of finite subjectivity, which is devoid of
all content, posits itself as absolute.
The first difficulty which presents itself is, that it is
just such an abstraction as has been described ; the second
lies in the fact of its approximation to the philosophical
Notion. It borders on the philosophical standpoint, for
it is the highest point of reflection. It contains expres-
sions which, regarded superficially, appear to be the same
1 Wesenhafte.
IQO THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
as those which belong to philosophy. It contains ideality,
negativity, subjectivity, and all this is, considered in itself,
a true and essential moment of freedom and of the Idea.
Further, it contains the unity of the finite and infinite ;
and this is true also of the Idea. It is undoubtedly sub-
jectivity, which develops all objectivity out of itself, and
consequently transmutes itself as form into content, and
only becomes true form by means of its true content.
Notwithstanding this, what thus seems to approach most
nearly to the Idea is furthest off from it. This ideality,
this fire in which all determinations consume themselves,
is at this point of view still uncompleted negativity. " I,"
as immediate, as this unit, am the sole reality ; all remain-
ing determinations are posited as ideal, are burnt up. I
alone maintain myself, and all determinations are valid,
only if I will it so. The only determination which pos-
sesses validity is that of myself, and that everything is
posited and exists only through me. The Ideality is not
thoroughly carried through ; this last culminating point
still contains what must be negated ; it must be shown
that I, as this unit, am not possessed of truth, of reality.
I myself alone remain positive, notwithstanding that every-
thing is to become affirmative through negation only. And
thus this position contradicts itself, for it posits ideality
as a principle, and that which brings about the ideality is
itself not ideal.
The unity of the finite and infinite, which is made ex-
plicit in reflection, is undoubtedly a definition of the Idea,
but of such a kind that the infinite is the positing of itself
as what is finite, while the finite is the finite of itself, and
is owing to this abrogation, the negation of its negation.
Consequently, it is the infinite, but it is this infinite only
as the positing of itself within itself as the finite, and the
abrogation of this finiteness as such. From the subjective
point of view, on the contrary, this unity is still posited in
one-sidedness,for it is posited by the finite itself, and is still
uuder the form of finiteness. I, this finite unit, am the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 191
infinite. Consequently this infinitude is itself finitude.
This particularity of my finite being — my immediate per-
sonality— has yet to be separated from this affirmation,
from this infinite. It is Eeflection itself which is par
excellence what separates ; but here it neglects its function
of separating and distinguishing, and anives at a unity
which is, however, only a finite unity. Eeflection here
fails to disjoin the immediate particularity of the Ego, of
the individual unit, from the Infinite and Affirmative.
And instead of merging the individual, which in itself is
without support, in universality and getting a grasp of
affirmation in its absolute universality in which it includes
the individual, it conceives of particularity itself as being
in an immediate way the universal. Here lies the de-
ficiency of this point of view. Contradictions can only
be criticised if we trace them back to the ultimate thought
on which they rest.
Such is the standpoint of the present time, and philo-
sophy enters into a peculiar relation with it. If we com-
pare this point of view with the religious ideas of earlier
times, we easily observe that this religious consciousness
had formerly a content existing on its own account, a con-
tent which defined the nature of God. It was the point
of view of truth and of dignity. The highest duty was to
know God, to worship Him in spirit and in truth ; and the
salvation or perdition, the absolute worth or worthlessness
of man was bound up with his knowledge of this content,
and his acceptance of it as true. At the present day to
know truth, to know God, is not regarded as man's highest
endeavour, and consequently right and duty are unknown.
All objective content has evaporated, arid all that is left
is this pure, formal subjectivity. This point of view ex-
pressly implies that I am by nature good ; not that I am
good by means of my own act, or by means of my will,
but that I am good in being unconscious. The opposite
position implies on the contrary that I am only good by
means of my self-conscious spiritual activity, by my free-
192 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
dom. It is not originally and by nature that I am good ;
on the contrary, my goodness must arise in my conscious-
ness ; it belongs to my spiritual world ; the grace of God
has its work here, but my co-operation as consciousness
as my exercise of will is also necessarily involved. Ac-
cording to the prevalent view, my being good is a matter
of my caprice and pleasure, for everything is posited
through me.
In contemplating this remarkable contradiction in re-
ligious opinion, we have to recognise the fact that a tre-
mendous revolution has taken place in the Christian world.
An entirely new self-consciousness in reference to the True
has appeared. All duty, all that is right, depends upon
the innermost consciousness, upon the point of view of
religious self-consciousness, springs from the root of .the
spirit, and this is the basis of all actuality. Yet it is only
when it is the form for an objective content that the self-
conscious spirit has truth. From this point of view, on
the contrary, which has no content in it, no religion what-
ever is possible, for it is I who am the affirmative, while
the Idea which has absolute Being must in religion be
established purely through itself and not through me.
Here, therefore, there can be no religion, any more than
from the standpoint of sensuous consciousness.
Philosophy is in this connection regarded as something
special. If general culture is given a place in conscious-
ness, then philosophy is a special calling or business, a
manner of regarding things which is outside of ordinary
interests, it is a calling which has a special place of its
own. And thus the Philosophy of Religion too, accord-
ing to the prevalent view, is something which cannot
have a meaning for society in general, but must rather
expect to meet with opposition and enmity from every
side.
If accordingly the first relation of the finite to the
infinite was the natural and untrue one, because the
multitude and multiplicity of particularity were held fast
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 193
as against universality, and if we have seen, further, that
the second relation is that found in reflection, where
finiteness lies in the wholly completed abstraction of pure
thought, which does not really get to conceive of itself as
universal, but remains as " I," as " this unit ; " we have
now to consider that relation as it reveals itself in
reason.
(y.) The rational way of looking at finiteness.
This position is to be considered in the first place in
its relation to the form of Eeflection at its climax. The
transition from that standpoint must by its very nature
be dialectical, and must be so made. This, however, be-
longs- to logic. We shall proceed to present it in a con-
crete manner, and as regards the necessity of the transition
shall only appeal to the consequences which follow from
this standpoint. According to it, I as finite am a nullity,
which is to be annulled, but yet this annulling is all the
same not effected or completed if this immediate individua-
lity at the same time remains, and remains in such a way
that this " I " alone becomes the affirmative, in the form
given to it by the standpoint of Reflection. The finite,
which exalts itself to the infinite, is mere abstract identity,
inherently empty, the supreme form of untruth, false-
hood, and evil. A standpoint must therefore be shown
where the Ego in this individuality renounces itself in
deed and in truth. I must be particular subjectivity
which is in very truth annulled, and thus something
objective must be recognised by me which is actually
regarded by me as true, and which I recognise as the
Affirmative, posited for me, in which I am negated as this
particular Ego, but in which my freedom is at the same
time maintained. The freedom of reflection is of such a
kind that it permits of nothing originating in it, and since
it must allow of origination, it proceeds when it posits
anything, without law and order ; that is to say, permits
nothing objective to originate. If something objective
is to be really recognised, it is requisite that I should be
VOL. I. N
194 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
determined as universal, and should maintain myself,
reckon myself as universal only. Now this is none other
than the point of view of thinking reason, and religion it-
self is this action, this activity of the thinking reason, and
of the man who thinks rationally, — who as individual
posits himself as the Universal, and annulling himself as
individual, finds his true self to be the Universal. Philo-
sophy is in like manner thinking reason, only that this
action in which religion consists appears in philosophy
in the form of thought, while religion as, so to speak,
reason thinking naively, stops short in the sphere of
general ideas or ordinary thought.
The general characteristics, the more precise forms of
thought belonging to this point of view, have now to be
noticed.
It is said first of all that subjectivity relinquishes its
individuality in the object in recognising an Objective in
general. This object cannot be anything sensuous. I know
the sensuous object ; no doubt in sense the thing is for
me something which persists objectively, but my freedom
is not in it as yet. The untrue nature of the sensuous con-
sciousness must be taken for granted here. The necessary
determination is that this Objective as true, and affirma-
tive, is determined as an universal. In this recognition of
an Object, of an Universal, I renounce my finiteness, I
renounce myself as this individual unit. What is valid
for me is the Universal, and a universal would not exist
if I were maintained as this individual unit. This is
apparent, too, in immediate knowledge of God ; I have a
knowledge of the objectively universal, which has an
absolute essential existence ; but since there is only an
immediate relation here, and reflection does not yet enter
in, this Universal, this object of the Universal, is itself
something merely subjective, to which that essential and
independent objectivity is wanting. The reflection finally
arrived at accordingly is only this, that these determina-
tions are planted in feeling alone, and are locked up in
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 195
the subjective consciousness, which has not as yet re-
nounced its immediate particularity, so that this deter-
mination of the objective Universal, as such, is not as
yet adequate. In order to this, it is requisite that the
abstract Universal should have a content as well, should
have determinations or attributes in itself. Not till then
can it be present to me as essentially existing. If it be
empty, the determinateness exists only in my supposition ;
it belongs to me, all content, all activity, all vitality
remain in myself, the determining and the objectifying
are mine alone. I have only a dead, an empty God,
a so-called Highest Being, and this emptiness, this idea,
remains subjective only, and does not attain to true ob-
jectivity. At this last standpoint we get certainty only,
there is no truth ; and I may perfectly well remain here
characterised as this unit, as the finite. The objectivity
in that case is a mere semblance of objectivity.
It is not for philosophy alone that the object is full of
content. This feature is common to both philosophy and
religion ; here there is as yet no difference in their point
of view.
Closely connected with this is the question : How is
the subject determined here ? The subject is character-
ised, in relation to the recognised object, as thinking.
Thought is the activity of the Universal, having an Uni-
versal as its object. By the Universal here is meant
the purely absolute Universal. The relation to such an
object is therefore the thought of the subject ; the object
is the Essence, that which exists for the subject. The
thought is not merely subjective, but also objective.
In thinking, reflecting about the true object, I am sub-
jective, I have my thoughts about it. But equally in
thinking the object, thinking the thought of it, the rela-
tion of my personality towards it as something particular
is got rid of, and I assume an objective attitude ; I have
renounced myself as an individual, renounced rny parti-
cularity, and am universal. To do this and to think that
196 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the Universal is my object, are one and the same. Here
I renounce myself actually and really. Working and
living in objectivity is the true confession of finiteness, is'
real humility.
It may be remarked that it is an essential character-
istic of thought that it is mediated action or activity,
mediated Universality, — which as negation of negation is
affirmation. It is mediation by the annulling of media-
tion. Universality, Substance, for instance, are thoughts
which exist only through negation of the negation. Thus
the mode of immediacy is contained here, but no longer it
only. And hence the expression that we have immediate
knowledge of God : knowledge is pure activity, and only
negates the impure, the immediate. "We can know God
in an empirical manner; this universal Object is then
immediately before me without demonstration. This im-
mediacy in the empirical subject is itself partly a result
of much mediation, and partly it is only one phase of
this activity. A difficult piece of music can be played
with ease after it has been gone through by frequent re-
petition of single passages ; it is played with immediate
activity as the result of so many mediatory actions. The
same is the case with habit, which has become like a
second nature to us. The simple result seen in the dis-
covery of Columbus was the consequence of many de-
tached acts and deliberations, which had preceded it.
The nature of such an activity is different from its
outward appearance. Thus the nature of thought is
this identity with itself, this pure transparency of the
activity, which in itself is negation of the negative.
Thought is the result which renders itself immediate,
which appears as immediate.
I am therefore determined in relation to the object
as thinking; and not in philosophy merely, but also in
religion in its affirmative form, in devotion, which has
its origin in thinking and in what is thought, does God
exist for me. This thinking of the Universal, then, is a
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 197
definite mode of my existence as pure thinking. What
is further to be observed is that in devotion, in this rela-
tion to the universal Substance, I arn reflected upon
myself. I distinguish myself from this Object, and it from
myself, for I have to yield myself up. In this lies the
consciousness of myself; and in so far as I merely per-
form the act of devotion in yielding myself up to God, I
am at the same time only as it were a reflection out of
God into myself. How then am I determined in this
respect, " I," who again appear ? Here I am determined
as finite in the true manner, finite as distinguished from
this Object, as the particular over against the universal,
as the accidental in reference to this Substance, as a
moment, as something distinguished, which at the same
time is not independent, but has renounced itself and
knows itself to be finite. Thus therefore I do not go
beyond the consciousness of myself, and this arises from
the fact that the universal Object is now potentially
thought and has the content within itself ; it is substance
in motion within itself, and as an inward process in which
it begets its content, is not empty, but is absolute ful-
ness. All particularity belongs to it ; as universal it
overlaps or includes me in itself, and thus I look upon
myself as finite, as being a moment in this life, as that
which has its particular being, its permanent existence
in this substance only, and in its essential moments.
And thus I am not only potentially but also actually
and really, posited as finite. For that very reason I do
not preserve myself as immediate, as affirmative.
Having hitherto considered, in a concrete way, the
attitude of the Ego to the universal Substance, what now
remains to be considered is the abstract relation of the
finite to the infinite generally.
In Reflection, the finite stands opposed to the infinite
in such a way that the finite is doubled. What is true
is the indissoluble unity of the two. This it is which
we have just considered in a more concrete form as the
198 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
relation of the subjective Ego to the Universal. The
finite is but an essential moment of the infinite, the
infinite is absolute negativity, that is, affirmation, which
however is mediation within itself. The simple unity,
identity, and abstract affirmation of the infinite is, in
itself, no truth, but rather is it essential that it should
differentiate or break itself up within itself. In this
process it is in the first place affirmation, and then
secondly, distinction ; thirdly, the affirmation appears as
negation of the negation, and thus for the first time as
the True. Nor does the standpoint of the finite repre-
sent any more that which is true. On the contrary it
must annul itself, and it is only in this act of negation
that we have what is true. The finite is therefore an
essential moment of the infinite in the nature of God,
jind thus it may be said it is God Himself who renders
Himself finite, who produces determinations within
Himself. Now this might at first appear to us to
be something unlike a Divine process, but we al-
ready have it in the ordinary ideas about God ; for we
are accustomed to believe in Him as the Creator of
the world. God creates a world, God determines ; out-
side of Him there is nothing to determine. He deter-
mines Himself when He thinks Himself, places an
Other over against Himself, when He and a world are
two. God creates the world out of nothing ; that is to
say, besides the world nothing external exists, for it is
itself externality. God alone is ; God, however, only
through mediation of Himself with Himself. He wills
the finite ; He Himself posits it as an Other, and thus
Himself becomes an Other than Himself — a finite — for
He has an Other opposed to Himself. This " otherness,"
however, is the contradiction of Himself with Himself.
He is thus the finite, in relation to that which is finite.
But the truth is that this finiteness is only an appearance, a
phenomenal shape in which He has or possesses Himself.
Creation is activity. In this is involved differentiation,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 199
and in this again the moment of the finite, yet this
separate existence of the finite must in turn annul itself.
For it is God's ; it is His Other, and exists notwith-
standing in the definite form of the Other of God. It
is the Other and the not Other; it dissolves or cancels
its own self ; it is not it itself, but an Other, it destroys
itself. By this means, however, the " otherness " has
wholly vanished in God, and in it God recognises Him-
self ; and in this way He maintains Himself for Himself
as His own result through His own act.
In accordance with this way of regarding the matter,
the two infinites may now be distinguished, namely, the
true infinite from the merely bad one of the under-
standing. Thus, then, the finite is a moment of the
Divine life.
(c.) The transition to the speculative conception of
religion.
For the logically developed and rational consideration
of the finite, the simple forms of a proposition have no
longer any value. God is infinite, I am finite ; these
are false, bad expressions, forms which do not adequately
correspond to that which the Idea, the nature of the real
object, is. The finite is not that which is, in like manner
the infinite is not fixed ; these determinations are only
moments of the process. It is equally true that God
exists as finite and the Ego as infinite. The " is" or
exists, which is regarded in such propositions as some-
thing firmly fixed, has, when understood in its true sense,
no other meaning than that of activity, vitality, and
spirituality.
Nor are predicates adequate for definition here, and
least of all those which are one-sided and transient.
But, on the contrary, what is true, what is the Idea,
exists only as movement. Thus God is this movement
within Himself, and thereby alone is He the living God.
But this separate existence of the finite must not be
retained ; it must, on the contrary, be abrogated. God
2co THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
is movement towards the finite, and owing to this He
is, as it were, the lifting up of the finite to Himself.
In the Ego, as in that which is annulling itself as finite,
God returns to Himself, and only as this return is He
God. Without the world God is not God.
We meet with these abstractions especially among the
ancients ; they are products of the beginnings of reflect-
ing abstract thought. Plato, however, already recognises
the infinite as the bad, and the determinate as what is
higher — he looks on the limit limiting itself in itself as
higher than the Unlimited. What is true is the unity
of the infinite, in which the finite is contained.
The result of all this is, that we must get rid of this
bugbear of the opposition of finite and infinite. It is
customary to frighten us out of the wish to know God
and to have a positive relation to Him, with the bugbear
that to seek to take up any such attitude towards God
is presumption, while the objections are brought forward
with much unction and edifying language, and with
vexatious humility. This presumption, however, is un-
doubtedly an essential part of philosophy as well as of
religion. From this point of view it is a matter of
indifference whether I know through thought the con-
tent, namely God, or accept it as true on authority, or
with the heart, by inner enlightenment, or in any other
way. If you take any of these ways, you are met by
this bugbear that it is presumptuous to wish to know
God, and to comprehend the infinite by means of the
finite. We must rid ourselves completely of this opposi-
tion of finite and infinite, and do it by getting an insight
into the real state of the case.
The man who does not rid himself of this phantom
steeps himself in vanity, for he posits the Divine as
something which is powerless to come to itself, while he
clings to his own subjectivity, and, taking his stand on
this, asserts the impotence of his knowledge. This is
surely subjective untruth in its real form, the hypocrisy
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 201
which retains the finite, which acknowledges the vanity
of the finite, but yet retains this which it confesses and
knows to be vain, and makes it into the Absolute, while
in so doing it holds aloof from rational knowledge, and
from substantial objective religion and religious life, and
either destroys them, or prevents them from making their
influence felt.
In losing ourselves in the true object itself, we escape
from this vanity of the self-maintaining subjectivity,
from this Ego, and make serious work with vanity. This
follows as a consequence of what was accomplished in the
science of logic.
The negative relation of consciousness to the Absolute
is commonly based upon observation ; for consciousness,
it is said, only the finite exists. The infinite, on the
other hand, is devoid of determinate character (and con-
sequently, as we have seen, is implicitly only, subjective),
and consciousness has a merely negative relation to it.
Because there is only this relation in observation, it is
now argued that it is impossible to know the Absolute,
the Truth. A few remarks must be made upon this
position.
If possibility and impossibility be taken in so far as
they have a definite meaning, they both have reference
to the kernel, to the Notion of an object, that which it
essentially is. Their meaning must therefore be decided
by the nature of the Notion itself. From the point of
view of consciousness as observing — from this point of
view of observation — the inner nature, the Notion, cannot
be discussed, for that point of view renounces the know-
ledge of what concerns the kernel or inner element of
the object ; it has only before it that which is included
in the sphere of external consciousness as such. Thus
possibility and impossibility have no place in this sphere
of thought.
Those who occupy this position, however, assert that
it is just what is, that is to say, what enters into this
202 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
particular perceiving consciousness, which gives the
standard of possibility, and that from this we get the
conception of possibility or impossibility. What contra-
dicts experience is impossible.
In regard to this it is to be remarked that this obser-
vation limits itself arbitrarily to the sphere of the finite
consciousness. There are, however, other spheres besides
which may be observed ; not merely those whose content
is only finite in relation to what is finite, but those too
where the Divine is in consciousness as something exist-
ing in and for itself. The affirmative consciousness of
the Absolute in the form of simple, natural religious life,
of devotion, or in the form of philosophical knowledge,
may also be observed, and yield a quite different result
from that supplied by the position of finite consciousness,
whether the observing subject observe these higher forms
of consciousness in others or in himself. For wrong as
this point of view is, it may well be that religious experi-
ence is more affirmative and more full of content than
consciousness ; there may be more in the heart than in the
consciousness, in so far as it is definite, rational, observing
consciousness ; the two may be distinct. All depends on
the adjustment of the rational or cognitive element in
consciousness to what I am in my true essential nature
as Spirit.
But the conviction that the spirit has only a negative
relation to God, ruins and destroys feeling, devotion, the
religious attitude, in fact. For thought is the source of
the Universal, the region in which the Universal generally
— in which God — is ; the Universal is in thought and
for thought. Spirit in its freedom only, that is, as think-
ing, has the content of Divine truth, and supplies it to
experience ; its content constitutes the worth of experience
in respect of all true devotion and piety. If a man in
the exercise of conscious thought holds fast to the posi-
tion that no affirmative relation to God exists, then all
content at once goes out of experience ; as that sphere
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 203
makes itself empty, so experience becomes hollow too,
just as I cannot see without light from outside. If the
content be negated or driven away from this region, there
is no longer present that which can supply the true quali-
ties of experience. If, therefore on the one hand, it must
be conceded, as above, that there may be more in devotion
than in religious consciousness, it is on the other hand
an evidence of caprice or clumsiness when that which is
present in a man himself or in others, is not observed.
Properly speaking, however, this caprice, this clumsiness
or want of skill, does not make its first appearance here,
for if a man is only to observe, observation thereby is
limited to the field of finiteness. To observe means, to
place oneself in relation to something external, which is
in observation to remain external, and this is only posited
in so far as it is external to oneself, and is thus finite.
Therefore, if any one occupy such a standpoint, he has
before him only what is worthy of this standpoint, and
appropriate to it.
If observation would observe the infinite in accordance
with its true nature, it must itself be infinite ; that is, it
must no longer be observation of the true object, but the
object itself. Speculative thought may be observed too,
but this observation is only for the thinker himself. In
like manner, religion is only for the religious man ; that
is, for him who at the same time is what he observes.
There is no such thing as mere observation here : the
observer is, on the contrary, in such a relation to the
object, that his observation is not purely external ; he is
not a simple observer, is not merely in a negative relation
to that which he observes.
From this it follows that in order to find the true seat
of religion we must relinquish the attitude of the observer ;
we must abandon this empirical point of view, for the very
reason that it is only empirical, and because it has, as we
saw, annulled itself by its own act. Reflection possesses,
it is true, the relation of the finite to the infinite ; this,
204 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
however, is only posited as a negation. Reflection pro-
ceeds, indeed, to advance a claim to posite the finite as
infinite, but it has been shown that this claim must only
be in relation to the affirmative ; that is to say, in obser-
vation the finite is made infinite, although it still remains,
and is firmly retained, as finite. And yet at the same
time the demand is made that the finite shall be
abrogated.
Now, however, that the finite and the standpoint of
reflection have annulled themselves, we have reached
the standpoint of infinite observation and of the specu-
lative Notion, namely, the sphere in which the true notion
or conception of religion will unfold itself before us.
3 . The Speculative Notion or Conception of Religion.
Reason is the region in which alone religion can be at
home. The fundamental conception here is the affirma-
tive attitude of consciousness which is only possible as
negation of negation, as the self-abrogation of the deter-
minations of the antithesis, which are taken by Reflection as
persistent. The basis of religion is in so far this rational,
or to speak more precisely, this speculative element.
Religion, however, is not merely something so abstract ;
it is not merely such an affirmative attitude towards the
Universal, as it is at present defined to be. If it were
only this, all further content would be found to be out-
side of religion, would come in to it from without ; or if
the content did actually exist, this would imply that there
existed yet another reality outside of religion.
The standpoint of religion is this, that the True, to
which consciousness relates itself, has all content in itself,
and consequently this condition of relation is what is
highest of all in it, is its absolute standpoint.
Reflection is that form of mental activity which estab-
lishes the antitheses, and which goes from the one to
the other, but without effecting their combination and
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 205
realising their pervading unity. The true home of
religion, on the contrary, is absolute consciousness, and
this implies that God is Himself all content, all truth
and reality. An object such as this cannot be adequately
expressed by mere Reflection.
If we have hitherto made use of the expression " con-
sciousness," it will be understood that this only expresses
the aspect of the outward manifestation of Spirit, the
essential relation of knowledge and its object. " I " am
thus determined as relation, but it is the essential nature
of Spirit not to be merely in relation ; finitude belongs to
consciousness, and the object remains in consciousness as
something independent. Spirit is not merely an act of
knowledge in which the existence of the object is separate
from the process of knowing it, it does not merely exist as
something related, it is not merely the form of conscious-
ness. We abstract from this relation and speak of Spirit,
and consciousness then comes to be included as a moment
in the being of Spirit; and this at once implies an
affirmative relation of the spirit to absolute Spirit. It is
only when we have arrived at this identity, where know-
ledge posits itself for itself in its object, that we are in
presence of Spirit, Reason, which exists objectively for
itself. Religion is therefore a relation of the spirit to
absolute Spirit : thus only is Spirit as that which knows,
also that which is known. This is not merely an attitude
of the spirit towards absolute Spirit, but absolute Spirit
itself is that which is the self-relating element, which
brings itself into relation with that which we posited on
the other side as the element of difference. Thus when
we rise higher, religion is the Idea of the Spirit which
relates itself to its own self — it is the self-consciousness
of absolute Spirit. Of this, its consciousness which was
before defined as relation, forms a part. Consciousness,
as such, is finite consciousness, it is the knowledge of
something other than the Ego. Religion, too, is con-
sciousness, and consequently has finite consciousness as
2o6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
an element in it, but a consciousness which is cancelled as
fiinite ; for the Other, which absolute Spirit knows, it itself
is, and it is only absolute Spirit in knowing itself. The
finiteness of consciousness conies in here, since Spirit by
its own movement differentiates itself ; but this finite
consciousness is a movement of Spirit itself, it itself is
self-differentiation, self-determination ; that is to say,
positing of itself as finite consciousness. By means of
this, however, it is only mediated through consciousness
or finite spirit in such wise that it has to render itself
finite in order to become knowledge of itself through this
rendering of itself finite. Thus religion is the Divine
Spirit's knowledge of itself through the mediation of finite
spirit. Accordingly, in the Idea in its highest form,
religion is not a transaction of man, but is essentially the
highest determination of the absolute Idea itself.
Absolute Spirit in its consciousness is knowledge of
itself. If it has knowledge of what is other than itself,
it then ceases to be absolute Spirit. In accordance with
this description, it is here maintained that this content,
which the knowledge of absolute Spirit has of itself, is the
absolute truth, is all truth, so that this Idea comprehends
the entire wealth of the natural and spiritual world in
itself, is the only substance and truth of all that constitutes
this world, while it is in the Idea alone that everything
has its truth, as being a moment of its essential existence.
The proof of the necessity that this content of religion
should thus be absolute truth, in so far as it starts from
what is immediate, and exhibits that content as the
result of another content, has been discussed, and already
lies behind us. When this proof was given above in its
proper place, we saw at once how the one-sidedness of its
procedure by which the content appears not as absolute,
but as a result, annuls itself. For that which appears as
First, whether it be the logical abstraction of Being, or
the finite world — this First, this Immediate, this which
appears unposited, is eventually itself posited as some-
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 207
thing posited, and not immediate — it is degraded from
being immediate to being posited, so that absolute Spirit
is in reality the True, the positing of the Idea, as well
as the positing of Nature and of finite Spirit ; in other
words, absolute Spirit self-conscious of itself is the First
and the alone True, in which the finite world which is
-thus something posited exists as a moment.
This procedure, therefore, which, to begin with, showed
itself as a procedure prior to religion, and in which the
beginning was made from the immediate, without reference
to God, so that God only comes into being by means of it,
is now seen to be rather a moment within religion itself,
but in a shape and form different from that in which it
first appeared, in which its 'relation to God is, as it were,
of a merely natural and naive kind. Here, on the other
hand, God is absolutely the First, and that procedure is
the active play and movement of the Idea of absolute
Spirit within itself. Spirit is for itself or self-conscious,
that is to say, makes itself an object, has independent
existence over against the Notion, as that which we call
" the world," " Nature." This diremption, or separation, is
the first moment. The other consists in the movement of
this object back to this its source, to which it continues to
belong, and to which it must return. This movement con-
stitutes the Divine life. Spirit as absolute is, in the first
place, manifestation or appearance to self, the self-existent
Being-for-self. Manifestation, as such, is Nature ; and
Spirit is not only that which appears, not only that which
is for beholders, but is Being-for-itself, what exists on its
own account, manifestation to itself, and the fact that it
is such makes it consciousness of itself as Spirit. Thus the
moment which was at first considered as necessity is seen to
be within Spirit itself, and we have that necessity so far as
its essence is concerned within religion too ; not, however,
as immediate determinate Being, but as manifestation of
the Idea ; not as Being, but as manifestation of the Divine.
The concrete filling-up of the notion or conception of
208 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
religion accordingly is its production by means of itself.
It is it itself which renders itself concrete, and perfects
itself by attaining to the totality of its distinctions, so
that the Notion, since it exists only by means of these
distinctions, becomes object to itself. The Notion, which
we have thus put on a firm basis, is the self-consciousness
of Absolute Spirit, it is the self-consciousness which im-
plies that it exists for itself. For itself it is Spirit; that
in which there is a distinction between itself and Spirit is
the moment of Nature. The meaning of this in popular
language is that God is the unity of the Natural and
Spiritual ; Spirit is, however, lord of Nature, so that the
two do not occupy a position of equal dignity in this
unity, the truth being rather that the unity is Spirit ;
Spirit is no third something in which the two are neut-
ralised, but, on the contrary, this indifference of the two
is itself Spirit. At one time Spirit represents the one
side, and at another is that which overlaps, which reaches
over to grasp the other side, and is thus the unity of
both. It is in this further concrete determination of
Spirit that the process takes place by which the notion
of God perfects itself by attaining to the Idea.
The Spiritual is the absolute unity of the Spiritual and
Natural, so that this last is only what is posited, sustained
by Spirit. In this Idea are found the following moments :
— a. The substantial, absolute, subjective unity of the
two moments, the Idea in its affirmation in which it is
identical with itself. I. The differentiation of Spirit
within itself, so that it now posits itself as existing for
what is thus differentiated, posited as the latter is by
Spirit itself, c. This differentiation itself being posited
in that unity of affirmation, becomes negation of the nega-
tion, affirmation as infinite, as absolute Being-for-self.
The first two moments are those of the Notion, repre-
senting the way and manner in which the relation of the
Spiritual and Natural is contained in the Notion. What
is further to be observed is, that they are not merely
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 209
moments of the Notion, but are themselves the two sides
of the difference. In Spirit the moment of differentia-
tion is that which is termed consciousness. Differentia-
tion is the positing of two, which have no other quality
attaching to their difference than just those moments
themselves. The differentiation, which thereby becomes
a relation, has therefore the following as its two sides :
as the one side it has just that solid substantial unity of
the Idea, God as existent, as unity relating itself to itself;
and as the other the differentiation, which, as conscious-
ness, is the side for which the solid unity exists, and
which therefore determines itself as the finite side.
Thus is God determined as existing for consciousness,
as Object, as appearing or manifesting Himself. Essen-
tially, however, He is as spiritual unity in His sub-
stantiality, not merely determined as appearing, but as
appearing to Himself, therefore so appearing to what is
other than Himself, that in that appearing He manifests
Himself to Himself.
This differentiation is therefore itself to be conceived
of as returning into absolute affirmation, or abrogating
itself, as differentiation which just as eternally abrogates
itself and becomes the truth of manifestation.
We first of all distinguished the substantial unity from
the differentiation itself, and then designated the return
of the second moment into the first as the third moment.
Now, however, those two moments themselves (in accord-
ance with the character of the content of the relation) are
only to be taken as one side of the relation, so that the
two only make up the one determinate character of that
relation, and the second moment becomes that which
appeared as the third. It is these two moments which,
from the point of view of the notion, constitute that
which in a general way is to be considered as the reality
of the Idea; the one as the relation, into which the
notion divides itself up, the consciousness, the appearing
of God ; and the other as the self-abrogation of this only
VOL. i. o
2io THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
relative attitude of opposition. In the first, that is, the
attitude of relation, the finite consciousness is the one
side, and the mode in which its finiteness is determined
is the mode in which it itself reveals to us how its object
is determined for it. Here we have the manner of the
divine manifestation, that is to say, the world of general
ideas, or the theoretical side. In the other relation, the
practical, being that of the active process in which the
division annuls itself, it is, on the contrary, in conscious-
ness that the activity makes its appearance. To this side
accordingly belongs the form of freedom, subjectivity
as such, and it is here that self-consciousness is to be
considered in its movement. This is manifestation as
worship.
C.
WORSHIP OR CULTUS.
The separation of subject from object makes its first
actual appearance in the Will. In willing I am an actual
being and a free agent, and I place myself over against
the object as an Other, in order to assimilate it to myself by
bringing it out of that state of separation. In the theore-
tical relation, this immediate unity, immediate knowledge,
is still present. But in worship I stand on the one side and
God on the other, my purpose being to unite myself closely
with God, and God with myself, and so to bring about a
concrete unity. Or, if we designate that first or theoreti-
cal unity as the mode under which ordinary thought con-
ceives the Existent, the Objective, then, in contrast with
that stable relation (which, as being the consciousness of
God as existent in and for Himself, in the form of idea,
is theoretical), worship will now constitute the practical
relation. This it does, inasmuch as it possesses in itself
the antithesis of subject and object, and so far does away
with the division between subject and object ; so that this
division might seem to exist in the first condition of
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 211
relation. Here, then, the aspect of freedom, of subjectivity,
is to be considered, as contradistinguished from the first
aspect, which is that of Being. Thus it might be said
that the first is God in His Being, the second the subject
in its subjective Being. God is, is present ; that is to say,
has a relation to consciousness. Thus worship is itself in
the first place theoretical, in as far as it itself, after doing
away with the antithesis, quits the region of idea or ordi-
nary thought likewise. As determined, God is not as yet
the true God. In as far as He is no longer determined
and limited in His actually existing manifestation, is He
Spirit, manifestation which exists in and for itself. The
Being of God therefore involves a relation to conscious-
ness ; only as an abstract God does He exist for conscious-
ness as a something beyond the present, as " Other." In-
asmuch as He is in His manifestation as He is potentially,
He has an absolutely realised existence ; therefore con-
sciousness, and essentially self-consciousness, belong to His
manifestation, for every form of consciousness is self-
consciousness. Thus God is essentially self-conscious-
ness. The characteristic of consciousness is included in
the first aspect as well, and that which we have termed
the general idea of God may likewise be called the Being
of God.
Thus knowledge has its place as associated with wor-
ship, and the general form in which it appears as belonging
to it is what we call Faith.
I. — OF FAITH.
i. Faith belongs to this practical relation on its subjec-
tive side. It belongs to the knowing subject, in as far as in
it self-consciousness not only has a knowledge of its object
as theoretical, but has certain knowledge of it — a knowledge
of it, in fact, as something which is absolutely Existent,
and alone True. In this certainty it has relinquished its
independent Being, which is the element of truth in its
212 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
formal knowledge of itself. Since faith must be defined
as the witness of the spirit to absolute Spirit, or as a cer-
tainty of the truth, it involves relation in respect of the
distinction of Object and Subject, a mediation in fact, but
a mediation within itself ; for in faith as it is here defined,
external mediation and that particular mode of it have
already vanished. This mediation therefore belongs to
the essential nature of Spirit, and is the substantial unity
of Spirit with itself, which infinite form likewise essen-
tially is. To express this in more concrete language, the
certainty faith has of the truth, or, this uniting of the
absolute content with knowledge, is that absolute, divine
connection itself, in accordance with which the knowing
subject, the self-consciousness, in so far as it knows the
true content, as free, as laying aside all peculiarities of
its particular or individual content, has knowledge of it-
self, though of its essence only. In this its free, absolute
certainty, it has the very certainty of the truth. As know-
ing, it has an object, and this as being the Essence is the
absolute Object. It is at the same time no foreign object,
no object which is for consciousness something other than
and beyond it, but it is its own Potentiality, its Essence.
For consciousness, as absolutely certain, is identical with
this certainty. This content is the potentiality of self-con-
sciousness, and in this character exists for us, having in
as far as it is essential being only, objectivity for self-con-
sciousness, or to put it otherwise, it constitutes its aspect
as consciousness. This is the innermost, abstract point of
personality, which can be understood in a speculative way
only as this unity of self-consciousness and consciousness,
or of knowledge and its essence, of infinite form and ab-
solute content. This unity exists simply and solely as the
knowledge of it in an objective form, as being the Essence
\\hich is my Essence.
In this exposition so much depends on each individual
moment, and at the same time on the essential combination
of these in unity, that if one only of these moments be held
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 213
fast while we abstract from the others, or even if they be
grasped in a more complete way, yet apart from their iden-
tity, this conception may easily seem merely to result in
those one-sided forms of reflection which have already been
considered, and may be confounded with them. This may
all the more easily appear to be the case, since those very
forms of reflection are none other than the single moments
of the expounded conception held fast in a one-sided man-
ner. The explanation of this distinction will help towards
a fuller elucidation of the true conception, as also of those
forms of reflection.
It having thus been shown that the Truth itself is
contained in the certainty of spiritual, pure self-conscious-
ness, and is inseparably identical with it, it may easily
appear as if this determination were the same with the
idea of the immediate knowledge of God, in which as
immediate the Being of God is just as certain for me
as I myself am, as my certainty of myself. Such an
assertion, however, would essentially imply a persistent
adherence to the immediacy of knowledge as such, and
as excluding a perception of the truth that knowledge as
such is in fact mediation in itself, an immediate affirma-
tion, which is this simply and solely as negation of the
negation. This would imply, further, that the imme-
diacy of the knowing subject does not disappear, but that
the latter persists in its finite independent Being, and
therefore, together with its object, remains devoid of
Spirit, so that it is only the speculative nature of the two
moments and of the spiritual Substance which is not
grasped in thought and directly treated of. In the act
of devotion which rests on faith, the individual is oblivious
of self, and is filled with his object. He yields up his
heart, and does not keep his immediate character. Even
if the subject, in the fire and warmth of devotion,
buries itself in its object, it is, all the same, itself still
prtsent. It is precisely the subject which possesses itself
in this devotional exercise ; it is the subject which prays,
2i4 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
speaks, forms ideas, and which has to do with this its
exaltation. But in devotion the subject does not main-
tain itself in its particularity, but only in its movement
in the Object, and only as this individual self-moving
spirit. The further development of the immediacy which
has not been abrogated accordingly presents us with the
infinitude of the vain subject as vain, and this culmina-
tion of vanity remains. If this be taken as also the
unity of the certain knowledge of itself with the content,
then this unity would be one in which vanity as such
would be defined as representing what is true and abso-
lute. That subjectivity, on the contrary, is destined to
be the true subjectivity only in so far as it is knowledge
which is emancipated and free from immediacy, as like-
wise from the Being-for-self which reflects itself into
itself, and holds itself fast as against Substance — that is,
only in so far as it is this negative unity of infinite Form
with Substance, as against its individual particularity.
In connection with the conception just indicated, we
may perhaps be reminded of another idea, or of the bald
accusation of Pantheism which is brought against that
conception even by theologians themselves. For there
are theologians who, while they suppose that they have
gone a long distance from the beaten track of the ordinary
forms of the reflection which characterises the culture of
our time, are so restricted to it that if they do not find God
spoken of and defined as something absolutely supersen-
sible, they in their thinking cannot get any further than
the conception of such an affirmative relation as mere
ordinary abstract identity. People do not know how to
get a knowledge of God as Spirit : Spirit is an empty
idea to them, having merely the same meaning as motion-
less abstract Substance. Pantheism sees and knows God
in the sun, in a stone, a tree, an animal, in so far only
as the sun as sun, the tree or animal as such, is and con-
tinues in this immediate natural existence. The sun,
the air, and such like, are, it is true, universal matter,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 215
and still more are plants and animals, life in fact. If
we know of no higher characteristic of God than that of
universal Being, of universal life, universal substance, and
the like, then such forms of existence certainly contain
this so-called divine Essence, and contain it as a Universal
which is devoid of Spirit. In like manner, if the indi-
vidual self-consciousness be defined as a natural simple
Thing, which is ordinarily understood as being the defi-
nition of the soul, then from the pantheistic point of
view it too is taken as a divine existence. But so too,
although self-consciousness be of the true kind, under-
stood not indeed as a natural Thing, yet as a reality so
far as immediateness is concerned so that it exists as
knowing immediately, just as it is in accordance with its
purely original character what thinks, and even although
in this sense it be thus taken as a divine reality, — it also
is still conceived of from that pantheistic point of view.
And from such a definition of individual self-conscious-
ness it is not possible for the pantheistic idea to free
itself. " I am : I am thinking : " this form of immediate
Being is regarded from the pantheistic point of view as
that which constitutes the ultimate definition and the
persistent form of what thinks. Although the latter be
also termed Spirit, this remains a meaningless expression,
since that " I " which was merely Being, that knowledge
which is merely immediate — knowing immediately any-
thing whatever, including even God — is nothing but
Spirit devoid of Spirit. The two assertions that man can
only know God in an immediate manner, and that man
as he is originally and by nature is good, have their
source in this conceiving of Spirit as devoid of Spirit.
Or conversely, if these two assertions be made, it follows
that Spirit is to be taken only as the existent " I," and
this existent " I " as the ultimate and true determination
of self-consciousness, and even as absolute eternal Being.
Spirit becomes Spirit as concrete freedom only, as some-
thing which allows its naturalness or immediateness to
216 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
flow into its universality, or more accurately, into its essence
as its object — as something which merges its natural
singularity, which determines itself as finite in the essen-
tial object, that is here, in the absolute content, which
determines itself as object. If in connection with the
immediateness thus relinquished, what is thought of be
the merely bodily immediateuess, then this yielding up
presents itself partly as natural death, by means of which
man may be united with God — partly, however, as
Thought, which abstracts from sensuous life and sensuous
ideas, and is a withdrawal into the free region of the
supersensuous. But if thought here adheres to its form
as abstract thought, it retains the reflected vanity of
simple, immediate Being-for-itself, of the cold and re-
served isolation of the existent " I," which takes up an
exclusive attitude towards its Essence, and negates its own
essence in itself. With justice is it said of this " I " that
God would not be in it, nor would it be in God, and that
it would have to do with God in an outward fashion only,
and further, that it would be the pantheistic point of
view, and unworthy of God, if this "I" should be taken
as an actual existence of God, since God must at least
abstractly be defined as the absolutely universal Essence.
But the relation of self-consciousness to God as Spirit is
wholly different from this pantheistic mode of conceiving
the relation, since in such a relation it is itself Spirit, and
since by the renunciation of the exclusive character which
it possesses as immediate oneness or isolation, it places
itself in an affirmative relation, in a spiritually- vital atti-
tude toward God. If theologians see Pantheism in this
attitude, and consequently even count the spirit among
the All, the all things among which indeed they reckon
the soul and that "I" which is reflected into its Being-
for-self, and which they then are justified in excluding
from God in respect of their individual actuality in which
they are finite, and if they know Spirit only as negation
of God, they not only forget the doctrine that man was
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 217
created in the image of God, but emphatically forget the
doctrine of the grace of God, of justification through
Christ, and, above all, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit,
who leads the church into all truth, and abides for ever
in His church. The grand present day cry raised against
this truth is — Pantheism. If, however, the " I" be know-
ledge of the infinite content, in such sort that this form.
itself belongs to the infinite content, then the content
is directly adequate to the form. It is present, not in
finite existence, but in absolute manifestation of itself,
and this is not Pantheism, for it has before it the exist-
ence of the divine in a particular form. If man, on the
other hand, be immediately God, that is to say, if he as
this individual unit knows God, that is the doctrine of
Pantheism. The Church, on the contrary, declares that
it is only through the abrogation of this naturalness
(which abrogation, in its natural form, is seen in natural
death) that man becomes united with God. If we grasp
what is taught by the Church, in the Notion, in thought,
the speculative determinations which have been specified
will be found to be involved in it ; and if there are
theologians who cannot, by grasping them in thought,
follow out such doctrines which undoubtedly have to do
with the innermost depths of the divine Essence, they
ought in that case to let them alone. Theology is the
comprehension or understanding of religious content.
Such theologians ought therefore to acknowledge that they
cannot comprehend it, and should not seek to criticise the
comprehension of it, and least of all should they apply to
it such terms as Pantheism, &c.
The older theologians had the most thorough grasp of
this divine depth, while among the Protestants of the
present day, whose entire resources consist of criticism
and history, philosophy and science have been wholly
neglected. Meister Eckardt, a Dominican monk, in
speaking of this innermost element, says, in one of his
sermons, among other things, the following : " The eye
21 8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
with which God sees me is the eye with which I see
Him ; my eye and His eye are one. By a righteous
standard I am weighed in God, and God in me. If God
were not, I would not be ; if I were not, then He were
not. It is, however, not needful to know this, for there
are things which are easily misunderstood and which can
only be thoroughly understood in thought."
2. Faith must now get what is essentially the form of
mediation. It itself is already this form implicitly, for
it is knowledge of God and of His character, and this
knowledge is in itself a process, a movement — is life,
mediation. It is involved in the very nature of the free-
dom which is the inner characteristic of faith, that it
should not be what we at first called substantial, solid
unity, that it should not be idea : in freedom I exist on
the contrary as that activity in affirmation which is in-
finite negation in itself. Now if we should wish to give
to mediation the form of an external mediation as the
foundation of faith, then such a form would be a wrong
one. This mediation, of which the basis is something
external, is false. The content of faith may indeed come
to me by means of instruction, miracle, authority, &c.
These may be the foundation of faith as subjective faith.
But it is just in giving this position to the content whereby
it assumes the character of a basis for me, that we go on
a wrong track ; and when faith is reached, this externality
must drop away. In faith I make that my own which
comes to me thus, and it ceases to be for me an Other.
Immediate faith may be so defined as being the witness
of the Spirit to Spirit, and this implies that no finite con-
tent has any place in it. Spirit witnesses only of Spirit,
and only finite things are mediated by means of external
grounds. The true foundation of faith is the Spirit, and
the witness of the Spirit is inherently living. Verifica-
tion may at first appear in that external formal manner,
but this must drop away. It may thus happen that faith
in a religion has its commencement from such testimony,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 219
from miracles, that is in a finite content. Christ Him-
self, however, spoke against miracles, He reproached the
Jews for demanding them of Him, and said to His dis-
ciples, " The Spirit will guide you into all truth." Faith
which begins in such an external manner is as yet formal,
and the true faith must come in its place. It is essential
to mark this distinction between the two kinds of faith,
for if this is not done, men are required to believe things
which at a certain level of culture they can no longer
believe. Miracles, it is said, are to be believed in this way,
and this belief is to be a means of faith in Christ ; it may
indeed be a means, but yet it is always required on its
own account as well. The faith thus demanded is faith
in a content which is finite and contingent, that is to
say which is not the true content. For true faith has no
accidental content. This requires especially to be pointed
out in view of the " Auf klarung." It has gained the
mastery over this formal faith, and if orthodoxy demand
faith of this kind, it becomes impossible for it, in presence
of certain ways of looking at things common among men,
to maintain it, because it is faith in a content which is
not divine, which is not the witness of God to Himself
as Spirit in the Spirit. The following is to be specially
noted in regard to miracles. Whether at the marriage at
Cana the guests got a little more wine or a little less is
a matter of absolutely no importance ; nor is it any more
essential to determine whether or not the man who had
the withered hand was healed ; for millions of men go
about with withered and crippled limbs, whose limbs no
man heals. In like manner it is related in the Old
Testament, that at the time of the flight out of Egypt
red marks were made at the doors of the Jewish houses
in order that the angel of the Lord might recognise those
dwellings. Would this angel not have known them
without those marks ? This faith has no real interest
for Spirit. Voltaire's bitterest attacks are directed against
the demands of a faith of this kind. Among other things
220 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
he says that it would have been better if God had given
the Jews some definite instruction regarding the immor-
tality of the soul, rather than to have taught them to go
to the (aller a la selle). Latrince thus become a
content of faith (Deut. xxiii. 13—15).
The non-spiritual, from its very nature, is not a content
which can belong to faith. If God speaks, it is spiri-
tually, for Spirit reveals itself to Spirit alone.
In like manner theology has in recent times laid stress
in connection with exegesis on the number of codices in
which this or that disputed passage is to be found. Thus
there is a passage in the New Testament which, accord-
ing to the Greek text, reads, " God (©9) blessed for ever-
more ; " an old fragment of parchment found in Oxford, on
the contrary, reads, " Who (Christ) blessed for evermore,"
a difference occasioned by the stroke in the &. Now,
however, it has been pointed out that the stroke shows
through from the other side, &c.
If criticism of what we know concerning the nature of
God takes to do with such things, then these are testi-
monies which are no testimonies at all. The content of
religion is the eternal nature of God, not accidental
and external things of this kind.
When Mendelssohn was asked to come over to the
Christian religion, his reply was that his own religion
did not require of him a faith in eternal truths, but only
in certain laws, modes of action or ceremonial observances,
and that he looked upon it as an advantage possessed
by the Jewish religion that in it eternal truths are not
presented for our acceptance, since for the finding of
these reason is sufficient ; those positive statutes he said
had been established by God, whereas these eternal truths
are the laws of nature, mathematical truths, &c.
We must indeed concede that they are eternal, but
they are of very limited content, and are no content of
eternal Spirit in and for itself. Eeligion, however, must
contain nothing else but religion, and it should contain
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 221
as such only eternal truths of the Spirit. This represents
the essential characteristic of religion, and for the rest,
whether those positive statutes have to do with the
external modes of worship, or whether such commands
of God relate to moral actions, it is again the spiritual
element, the disposition of mind which is the principal
thing. But this religion of commands in its fully de-
veloped form is harsh in the extreme, and may become
irreligious, and enter into relation with a limited content.
What is to be believed must, however, possess a religious,
spiritual content.
3. We have now defined faith, and attestation as
mediation, to be the inmost element in the conception of
worship, or as the first moments in it. In worship, God
is on the one side, I am on the other; and the essential
characteristic here is that I enclose myself with God
within myself, know myself in God as my truth, and
God in me. The essential thing is this concrete unity.
Theoretical consciousness, too, is concrete in our way of
looking at it, but only implicitly. When it becomes
concrete for the subject too, it then is practical. Worship
is the act of giving to oneself this highest, this absolute
enjoyment — there is emotion in it ; I am present in it
with my individual personality. Thus it is the certainty
or sure knowledge of the absolute Spirit in His Church,
the Church's knowledge of its own Essence ; this is the
substantial unity of Spirit with itself which is essential
and infinite form, knowledge in itself. Thus to put it
more definitely, subjective self-consciousness is, to begin
with, contained in it, but this consciousness, however, is
still subjective in a formal manner only, for the conscious-
ness which has reached knowledge of the absolute content
is free. That is to say, it divests itself of the reserve
and isolation of Being-for-self, which as a unit is exclusive
in relation to its object. Thus it knows its Essence, and
that this is its Essence ; it bears witness of this to the
object, and this witness is thus the testimony of Absolute
222
Spirit, which in like manner only in thus witnessing
produces itself as Absolute Spirit. As knowledge, self-
consciousness has an object ; as essence it is Absolute
Object, and for self-consciousness in so far as it is free
this is none other than the witness of the Spirit. Spirit
becomes known to self-consciousness only in its freedom,
therefore only in so far as this knowledge is free know-
ledge is the unity of self-consciousness present, and the
absolute content is substantial unity, and this means that
singularity is simply abrogated, or rather determined as
universal in opposition to what is singular, so that the
latter exists as a mere semblance only. " I " — this em-
pirical existence — from which Essence is still certainly
different, is just what is void of essence.
Subjective consciousness itself, however, is a limited,
determinate consciousness, Spirit as particular, or in a
special form. For Spirit in this special form, for Spirit
with a determinate character, truth too exists only in this
definite mode. According as the subjective spirit is
constituted, so too is objective truth constituted for it.
But in God consciousness and knowledge are inherent.
These are a content, and the form which implies that this
content is the object of consciousness is inseparable from
it. Here we have to do with Spirit in a particular or
special form, and at the progressive stages of the de-
velopment of Spirit faith modifies itself and adopts a
different kind of content. Thus we do right to speak to
a child of God its Creator, and in this way the child
forms an idea of God as of some Higher Being ; this is
grasped by the consciousness in early years, but only in a
limited manner; and the foundation thus laid is thenfurther
extended and broadened. The One Spirit is in fact the
substantial foundation ; this is the spirit of a people, as
it takes a definite shape in the individual periods of the
history of the world. It is the national spirit. This
constitutes the substantial foundation in the individual ;
each person is born in his own nation and belongs to the
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 223
spirit of that people. This spirit is in fact the substantial
element, and as it were the identical element of nature ;
it is the absolute foundation of faith. It is the standard
which determines what is to be regarded as truth. This
substantial element exists in this way independently in
contradistinction to individuals ; it is their power in
reference to them as units, and is in this relation to them
their absolute authority. Each individual as belonging
to the spirit of his people is born in the faith of his
fathers, without his fault and without his desert, and the
faith of his fathers is a sacred thing to the individual
and is his authority. This constitutes that basis of faith
afforded by historical development.
And here the question arises as to how a religion is
founded, that is to say, in what manner the substantial
Spirit comes into the consciousness of nations. This is
something historical ; the beginnings are invisible ; those
who are capable of expressing that Spirit are prophets,
poets. Herodotus says, Homer and Hesiod made their
gods for the Greeks. Homer and Hesiod have here an
authority, but for this reason only, that their utterances
were in conformity with the Greek spirit. And besides,
the thoughts of these poets were preceded by still earlier
beginnings, which were the first glimmerings of the
Divine, for it will hardly be maintained that the stage
of culture which appears in the works of Homer repre-
sents what has existed from the very first. Dread of the
supersensuous expressed itself in the earliest times in a
crude and primitive manner. Fear is the beginning, and
in order to remove it and to render that supersensuous
power propitious, recourse was had to incantations, and
prayers were offered up in the form of hymns. Thus by
degrees consciousness develops itself, and the few who
in this state of things know what the Divine is are the
Patriarchs, the Priests, or it may be that a caste or a
particular family is marked off to teach doctrine and to
conduct the worship of God. Each individual lives into
224 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the spirit of these ideas and experiences, and thus a
spiritual contagion is spread abroad among the people,
and education, too, bears its part, so that the individual
breathes in the atmosphere of his people. The children
too go in festival attire with their elders to worship, take
part in the religious functions, or have something to do in
connection with this divine worship. In any case, they
learn the prayers, hear repeated the beliefs of the church
and of the nation, enter into these and accept them in
the same direct way in which uniformity in dress and the
customs of everyday life are propagated.
Such is natural authority ; hut its power is greatest in
spiritual matters. However independent the individual
may imagine himself to be, it is impossible for him to get
beyond this spirit, for it is what is substantial, it is his
special nature itself.
This authority is, to begin with, something entirely
natural, and has a sure place amongst a people on its own
account, without hinting at any prohibition of what is con-
trary to it. Under such conditions, individuals as units are
neither free nor are they in bondage, for there is here no
kind of opposition of reflection and subjective thought.
We say, such and such peoples have believed this, but
they themselves do not call it " believing," if you under-
stand by belief or faith what involves the consciousness
of opposition.
But now different forms of faith make their appear-
ance, different religions, which can come into collision
with one another. This collision may take place in the
sphere of ordinary thought and of reflection, and the
defence may be based on reasons and evidences of truth,
but it may also take the form of one people compelling
others to conform to their faith, and thus faith becomes
compulsory State-authority, enforced partly within the
State itself and partly outside of it. This kind of col-
lision has given rise to countless wars. Under this head
we may rank the wars of the Mohammedans, the religious
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 225
wars between Catholics and Protestants, the Inquisi-
tion too, and the battles in India between worshippers
of Siva and Vishnu. In such conflicts the combatants
fight for the glory of God, they fight in order that God
may be recognised in consciousness, and that what is
truth for the nation may receive recognition. Freedom
of faith in the general sense revolts against such com-
pulsion; this freedom, however, can further take up a
position of impartiality relatively to the various forms of
belief which assert themselves to be the truth. Thus
this freedom is formally the same as freedom of faith as
such, in which what is believed is not to be brought into
question. Such then is the formal demand of freedom
which does not criticise the truth of faith, and is con-
cerned with subjective freedom only, whatever may be
the nature of the content. It is here that the distinction
enters between the inner life, the place of conscience, in
which I am, so to speak, at home with myself, and the
essential content. The inner life is the holy place, the
seat of my freedom, and it is to be held in respect. This
demand is an essential one, which is made by a man in
proportion as the consciousness of freedom awakens within
him. Here the basis is no longer the substantial content
of faith, but its formal character.
But now the freedom of faith directly appears as a
contradiction in itself if the matter be regarded from the
point of view of abstract thought. For in the very act
of believing, a man accepts something given, something
already present. Freedom, on the other hand, requires
that this should be posited, produced by myself. But in
this demand of freedom, faith is really conceived of as
my personal faith, as an inmost certainty which is abso-
lutely and exclusively my own. In this certainty of
my own, in this my conviction, my faith has its source
and its place. I am free and independent with regard to
others, whatever the faith itself may happen to be ; or, in
other words, the definite reasons, reflections, and feelings
VOL. i. p
226 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
upon which it is built are of no importance here.
Clearly faith is in itself, as far as the content is con-
cerned, still in bondage, and it is Thought which first
seeks to be free in respect of the content also.
Here, accordingly, where freedom brings itself into
relation with the content as well, is it that the breach
between thought and faith makes its appearance, that
breach which we already see among the Greeks in the
time of Socrates. Thought implies a new relation towards
faith ; that is to say, the aspect of Form enters into
relation with the substantial element of truth. In the
Christian religion this principle is present from the
beginning. Regarded in one aspect, that religion starts,
it is true, from an external history which is made a
matter of faith; but this history at the same time
professes to be the explication of the nature of God.
Christ, in accordance with the distinction which directly
enters here, is not merely a man, who experienced a
particular fate, but He is also the Son of God. The
explication of the history of Christ, the unfolding of its
meaning, is thus the deeper lying element. This has
been given in thought, and it has produced Dogmatics —
the doctrine of the Church. With this there co-exists
a demand for "inwardness," for thought. The breach
between thought and faith then develops itself further.
Thought knows itself to be free, not only so far as the
form is concerned, but in respect of the content also.
In thought, however, freedom does not exist altogether
apart from authority ; it has certain principles, which
are really its own, and to which it reduces everything.
But these principles themselves belong to development ;
a given period has certain principles, and so far autho-
rity, too, is present in it. It is the ultimate analysis
only, where no assumed principles any longer exist, which
constitutes the advance to philosophy.
The as yet religious mediation of faith as it appears
in worship, is the active process of bringing forward
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 227
into reality the previously determined unity, and the
enjoyment of it ; so that what is potentially in faith
may also be realised, felt, enjoyed. When will appears
in this form, worship is practical, and this active process
has to begin with the form of limitation and parti-
cularity. It is frequently said that in his will man is
infinite ; while in his understanding, his power of know-
ledge, he is finite. To say this is childish ; the opposite
is much nearer the truth. In willing, a man confronts
an Other, he isolates himself as an individual, he has
in himself a purpose, an intent with regard to an Other,
he behaves as if separated from that Other, and thus
finitude comes in. In his acts man has an end before
him, and such action essentially requires that the content,
the end, should exist, should lose the form of an idea, or
in other words, that the end in view being, to begin
with, subjective, should have this subjectivity taken away
from it, and thus at length attain to objective existence.
In so far as worship, too, is an act, it has an end in
itself, and this, which is faith, is the implicit concrete
reality of the Divine and of consciousness. What wor-
ship has to accomplish is not the separation of anything
from the Object, or the alteration of anything in it, nor
the establishing of its own claims with regard to it. Its
end, on the contrary, is essentially absolute reality, and
this end is not one which has still to be produced, or
created, but one which is only to have actuality in me ;
it is, therefore, opposed to me, opposed to my particular
subjectivity. This last is the husk, which is to be
stripped off; I am to be in the Spirit, and the Object is
to be in me as Spirit.
Here then is a twofold act, the grace of God and the
sacrifice of man. In connection with the act, which we
call the grace of God, the mind gets into a difficulty on
account of the freedom of man. But the freedom of man
just consists in the knowledge and willing of God, and
exists only through the annulling of human knowledge
228 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
and will. Man is not like a stone here, so that it is
not a case of grace only operating in a practical way,
while man forsooth is the passive material, without
participating in any way in what goes on. The end to
be reached rather is that through ine the Divine should
come to be in me, and that toward which the action,
which is my action, tends, is the renunciation in general
of that self of mine, which no longer retains itself for its
own sake. Such is the twofold active movement which
constitutes worship, and thus is its end the existence of
God in man.
I am to make myself such that the Spirit may dwell
in me, that I may be spiritual. This is my work, the
human work, and that same work is God's, regarded
from His side. He moves toward man, and is .in man
through man's exaltation of himself. What seems to
be my act is then God's, and conversely, too, what seems
His is mine. This, it is true, runs counter to the merely
moral standpoint of Kant and Fichte ; there goodness
still remains something which has yet to be brought
forth, to be realised, and continues, too, to be something
that ought-to-be, as if it were not already essentially
there. Here, then, is a world outside of me, which as
forsaken of God waits for me to bring the end, the good
into it. The sphere of moral action is limited. In
religion, on the contrary, goodness, reconciliation, is
absolutely complete, and exists on its own account;
the Divine unity of the spiritual and the natural world
is presupposed — the particular self-consciousness being
regarded as belonging to the latter — and the whole ques-
tion concerns only myself and has reference to myself, and
centres in this, that I lay aside my subjectivity and take
and have my share in that work which eternally com-
pletes itself. According to this, goodness is in no sense
something which merely ought to be, an ideal, but is, on
the contrary, Divine power, eternal truth.
In like manner, if in the present day it is felt to be
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 229
supremely necessary to bring faith near to men, and if
religious talk is constantly directed toward producing a
sense of wretchedness, and together with this the belief
that God exists, this is not only not worship, but this
persistent effort, implying that religion has first to be
created, is something outside of religion. The truth
rather is that worship is within religion, and the know-
ledge that God and reality exist is the fundamental truth
which I have only to assimilate to myself. Oh, unhappy
age, which must content itself merely with being con-
tinually told that there is a God !
Since the truth rather is that worship presupposes the
essential existence of the final purpose of the world, and
yet sets out from this presupposition to oppose empirical
self-consciousness and its particular interests, a negative
moment or stage is contained in it, but of such a kind that
it is really the practical activity of the subject itself, by
whicli it discards particular subjectivity. Such, then, is
the notion or conception of worship in general, whose
foundation is the determination of what is known as faith.
II. — THE DEFINITE CHARACTER AND SPECIAL FORMS OF
WORSHIP OR CULTUS.
In faith is contained the notion or conception of
absolute Spirit itself.
To begin with, this content exists as the Notion for us;
we have conceived of it as such, but that does not imply
that it is already posited in existence as such. The Notion
is the inner, the substantial element, and as such it is
through us that it is present in us in the knowledge which
grasps its object The Idea, however, does not as yet
possess this shape and content in existing self-conscious-
ness generally. At first, therefore, the Idea is like the
Notion, like the Substance which is identical with sub-
jective self-consciousness, so that subjective self-conscious-
ness has its Essence, its truth in the object. In the Idea
230 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the subject is essentially conceived of as free, but at first
possesses relative freedom only, freedom of the subject
in relation to its universal Essence, so that it does not
separate itself from that Essence, nor persist in keeping
to a form which is antagonistic to this its Universality, but
continues to exist only in unbroken continuity with its
Object. Or, to express it otherwise, freedom is merely
this formal freedom of the subject, in which the con-
sciousness of the subject is adequate to its notion. As
hitherto defined, however, true faith presupposes the self-
consciousness of the absolute freedom of the spirit — the
consciousness that man is free in his own nature, by
virtue of his fundamental nature, and knows himself as
infinite Personality. Now, if such self-consciousness be
still immediate, it is, to begin with, only formally free,
and labours under the defect of having a merely natural
character, and is not man's consciousness of his infinite
freedom. God Himself does not exist as Spirit in an
immediate manner, and the same is the case as to our
consciousness regarding Him. Consequently, freedom
itself, and reconciliation in worship or devotion, are in
the first instance formal reconciliation and freedom : if
the subject is to be adequate to its conception or notion,
it is necessary that its notion, that absolute Spirit, be for
it Object as Spirit, for only by bringing itself into relation
with its Essence in that absolute content can the subjec-
tive spirit be free in itself. The truth is that it remains
absolute for itself, and as infinite subjectivity has the con-
sciousness that it has infinite worth for itself, or on its own
account, and is the object of the infinite love of God.
We find that worship also develops in conformity
with the idea of God which has just been unfolded. At
one time God is thought of as the unity of the natural
and spiritual, at another as the absolute unity, which itself
is spiritual. The definite aspects of worship correspond
with these different ideas of God.
i. God is immediately determined as an abstraction,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 231
and as having a merely natural character, not as absolute,
infinite Spirit: In as far as this natural character is
posited in Him, and He has it in Himself in an affirma-
tive manner, He is indeed the Unity of this and the
Spiritual ; but in so far as the natural character is some-
thing permanent, the unity of the two is immediate also,
a unity which indeed is merely natural, and not truly
spiritual. As regards man, the body is just as much an
affirmative ingredient as the soul if any one says he con-
sists of body and soul ; and as thus conceived, the unity
of the two is also a natural immediate unity only.
Now, in worship, too, man is determined in the same
way, as having an immediate natural character, or as being
in the unfreedom of freedom. To say that man is simply
naturally free (a definition which really contradicts itself)
implies also that his relation to his object, his essence, his
truth, is such a natural unity, and his faith, his worship,
is therefore essentially an immediate relation, or an original
state of reconciliation with his object. This is a charac-
teristic of worship in all those religions in which the
absolute essential nature of God is not as yet revealed.
Here man in his freedom has not yet attained to freedom.
Such, for instance, is heathen worship, which has no need
of reconciliation. Here worship is already that which
man represents to himself as the ordinary mode of life ;
he lives in this substantial unity, worship and life are not
separated, and a world of absolute finitude has not as yet
placed itself over against an infinitude. Thus a conscious-
, ness of their felicity prevails among the heathen, a con-
sciousness that God is near to them as the God of the
nation, of the State — the feeling that the gods are friendly
toward them, and bestow upon them the enjoyment of all
that is best. If Athene was known to the Athenians
under this guise as their divine power, they knew them-
selves to be originally one with her, and knew the divine
to be the spiritual power of their nation itself. At the
first stage of the immediate unity of the finite and infinite,
232 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
self-consciousness has not as yet attained to development
into Totality. The distinction is not in so far taken
seriously. Negativity must, it is true, present itself, but
not being the product of consciousness itself, the negative
is shut out from the inner relation of subjectivity. It
has its place outside, and is, as it were, a realm of dark-
ness and of evil to be separated off from the immediate
unity. Conflict and strife with that negative may even
arise, but it is of such a kind that it is thought of more
as an external conflict, and the enmity and return out of
it are not regarded as essential moments of self-conscious-
ness. In this stage there is therefore no real reconcilia-
tion, for this presupposes an absolute dualism or division
in the inner life.
Here, therefore, the essential note of worship is that
it is not something peculiar, not anything set apart
from the rest of life, but rather a continuous life in the
realm of light and in the Good. The temporal life with
all its needs — this our immediate life — is itself worship,
and the subject has not as yet separated its essential life
from the maintenance of its temporal life, and from the
occupations belonging to immediate, finite existence.
At this stage, an express consciousness of its God as
such must indeed spring up in the subject ; there must be
a rising up to the thought of the absolute Being, and there
must be adoration and praise of Him. But this is to
begin with an abstract relation of a separate and indepen-
dent character into which concrete life does not enter. So
soon as the relation of worship takes on a more concrete
shape, it takes up the entire external actual existence of
the individual into itself, and the whole compass of ordi-
nary daily life, eating, drinking, sleeping, and all actions
connected with the satisfaction of natural necessities
come to have a reference to worship, and the engaging
in these actions and occupations constitutes a holy life.
While, however, externality and need are necessarily
inherent in such occupations, they must, if they are to be
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 233
lifted up into that essential unity, have special attention
directed to tliem, and be engnged in with circumspection
and sobriety, to the exclusion of all caprice. In this
way solemnity and dignity rule in the most ordinary
dealings of life. The concrete existence of finite life is
not as yet esteemed a matter of indifference ; it is not
as yet degraded by freedom to externality, because the
freedom of the inner life has not yet given itself an in-
dependent sphere. The acts of daily and ordinary life
are, therefore, still regarded all through in relation to
religion, and have the value of substantial acts. In order
that this action, which is regarded by us as action of a
contingent kind, may be congruent to the form of sub-
stantiality, it is essential that it be carried out with
solemnity, repose, and becoming regularity and order.
Consequently, all this is arranged in a general manner by
means of rules, and that appearance of contingency is not
present here, since in the process of becoming finite
the subject has not cast itself loose from the Infinite, and
given itself free play. An oriental who occupies this
standpoint does not consider his body, nor finite occupa-
tions and the act of engaging in these as his own, but
rather as being in the service of an Other, of the universal
essential Will. For that reason he must engage in the
most insignificant affairs with dignity and sober-minded-
ness, so that he may accomplish them in a becoming
manner, in a manner suitable to that universal "Will.
That solemnity is a mere form notwithstanding, and
the content is limited to the range of the finite, and
therefore the opposition is not truly done away with.
Consequently, the orderliness with which the actions of
everyday life are performed being only an external form
belonging to that finite content, the actual distinction
between external life and that which the absolute Object
is for consciousness, is still present here. Subjective
existence must therefore be definitely and openly annulled,
and the mode in which this takes place here is connected
234 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
with reflexion upon finitude and on its opposition to the
Infinite. But the negativity of the finite can only come
about in a finite manner. Now this is what is generally
designated as sacrifice.
Sacrifice directly involves the renunciation of an
immediate finitude in the sense of being a testifying that
this finitude is not to be my own possession, and that I
do not desire to have it for myself. From this stand-
point of the religious consciousness, sacrifice is therefore
sacrifice in the strict and proper sense. Negativity
cannot here reveal itself in an inward process because
we are not yet in presence of the depths of the inner life
of thought and feeling. Sacrifice does not consist in a
" conversion " of the inner life, of the heart and of the
natural inclinations, rendering it necessary that these
should be broken. On the contrary, what the subject is for
itself or in its independent condition, such is it when in
immediate possession, and the yielding up of its finitude
in worship is only the renunciation of an immediate
possession, and a natural existence. In this sense,
sacrifice is not any longer present in a spiritual religion,
but what is there designated sacrifice can only be such in
a figurative sense.
Sacrifice, to speak more precisely, can at this stage be
merely a sacrifice of adoration, of praise, the act of testi-
fying that I have nothing peculiar to myself but that I
relinquish it in thinking of myself in relation to the
Absolute. He to whom the possession is yielded up, is
not to be made richer by means of it ; all that happens
is that the subject in this renunciation gets for itself the
consciousness of the removal of separation, and its action
is in so far purely joyous action. This too is the general
signification of gifts in Eastern countries, subjects or
vanquished enemies bring presents to the king, not that
he may be made richer, for everything is already assigned
to him, and everything belongs to him.
Further, too, sacrifice may assume the character of a
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 235
sacrifice .of purification, having reference to a specific
defilement. From the point of view which we are con-
sidering, sin, in the strict sense, has not been committed ;
the special sacrifices of purification group themselves
round all finite action generally. They represent no
repentance, no punishment ; they have no spiritual change
as their aim, and they do not involve the endurance of
any kind of loss or damage. It is not considered that a
man has done some evil deed for which he must endure
an evil in return. All such categories as those just men-
tioned would include the idea of a justification of the
subject ; but that is an idea which does not as yet in
any sense enter in here. From our standpoint, such
sacrifices would be regarded as losses, since something
we possess is relinquished by means of them. Such a
view is meanwhile wholly absent from the minds of those
who occupy the standpoint above referred to ; their
sacrifice is, on the contrary, essentially symbolical. A
defilement has occurred, and this must be got rid of in
a similarly immediate manner. The subject, however,
cannot make what has happened into something which
•has not happened, nor can it repent that it has acted
as it did. For this reason there must necessarily be an
exchange or substitution, and something must be relin-
quished other than that existence which was really in
question. What is offered up may be much more insig-
nificant as regards intrinsic value than what I receive,
what I have acquired for myself. Thus I actually take
possession of the harvest which I have won, of the animal
which I have slaughtered, and then if it is to be shown
that I do not seriously take this possession as mine, this
is done in a symbolical manner. It is not as if what I
do ought not to take place, for such actions are neces-
sary ; through the act of sacrifice it is only this becoming
finite generally, this independent existence of mine which
is once more annulled.
The general characteristic which marks these acts
236 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
of devotion, is what we call Ceremonial. It consists in
this, that everyday common actions (as we regard
them) are at the same time necessary actions, and are
prescribed by rule. We have the right to act here in
accordance with our fancies, or to follow habit in an
unconscious way ; in like manner we do not hold a
purification to be necessary in the same degree in which
such actions as the gathering of the harvest and the
slaughtering of an animal, are necessary. And since,
further, in the case of these offerings and purifications
there is an actual reference to the religious aspect of
life, no distinction presents itself here to which an im-
portance would not be attributed. Thus the different
means of sustaining life are not looked upon in relation
to taste and to health merely. We have accordingly
here the combination of different elements in connection
with sacrifice and purification. That action by means
of which purification from another action is got, can have
no necessary relation to the latter, and for this reason
the combination can only be an accidental and external
one. Hence arises the painful element in this form of
worship. If a meaning lies or has lain in these cere-
monies and combinations, yet it is a trivial and a super-
ficial one, and in becoming a matter of habit, such actions
lose even the little meaning which may once have lain
in them.
At this point, accordingly, definite punishment comes
in, in so far as a deed which is opposed to some prescribed
rule has to be annulled, and in so far as it is a question
of a transgression. The punishment of such a transgres-
sion is in turn an injury, and something is relinquished
— life, property, and so forth. But the meaning attached
to this punishment here is that of a purely barren, formal
punishment, like civil punishment. This latter, however,
does not necessarily concern itself with the improve-
ment of the delinquent, while ecclesiastical repentance or
penance is in our view a punishment of which the essential
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 237
purpose is the improvement and conversion of the
person punished. To those occupying this standpoint,
punishment cannot have any such moral, or rather reli-
gious, meaning. Civil laws and the laws of the State
are here in fact identical with religious laws. The law
of the State is the law of freedom ; it presupposes per-
sonality, the dignity of man, and has essential reference
to the Will, a sphere of discretion being left for the
exercise of judgment regarding unimportant and indifferent
matters. But for those who occupy the standpoint of
which we are treating such a separation does not as yet
exist, and the general condition is one of mere necessity.
From that finite form of existence and action which
the religious worship just described brings into relation
with what has essential being, there is further to be dis-
tinguished a more specific form of action which is in
accordance with ends. The performance of such actions
as have immediate reference to our necessities or require-
ments does not take place in accordance with an end,
but is regulated in an immediate way. This action, on
the other hand, which is in accordance with an end, is
not mere action prompted by necessity or habit, but
determines itself in accordance with ideas. Thus it
still, it is true, is finite action, in so far as it has a finite
end ; but since the leading principle here is that the finite
should be lifted up to the infinite, the finite ends too are
to be extended into an infinite one. In this way reli-
gious work or labour makes its appearance, and this
produces works of devotion which have not reference to
a finite end, but which are meant to be something which
exists for its own sake. This work is here itself worship.
Such works and such productions are not to be regarded as
corresponding with our ecclesiastical buildings, which are
only undertaken because they are required. This labour,
on the other hand, as pure production and as perennial
work, is its own end, and is consequently never completed.
Now, this religious work is of diverse kinds and cf
238 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
various degrees, from the mere bodily movement of the
dance up to the erection of enormous colossal structures.
The latter are principally of the nature of monuments,
and are endless in number, for a fresh beginning must
continually be made as each generation completes its
own work.
The determining agent in connection with such works
is not yet the free imagination ; on the contrary, what
is produced has the character of something enormous
and colossal. The production of such things is still
essentially chained to what is Natural and Given, and
the discretion left to active effort is limited merely to
this, that the dimensions be on an exaggerated scale, and
the actual forms be characterised by proportions of the
" enormous " order.
All these works too fall within the sphere of sacrifice,
for in these, as in sacrifice, the end is the Universal, as
against which what is peculiar to self and the interests
of the subject must be relinquished. All activity, in
fact, is a relinquishment, no longer, however, of a merely
external thing, but of inward subjectivity. This renun-
ciation or sacrifice which is involved in activity, in virtue
of its character as activity, produces at the same time an
object, brings something into existence, yet not in such
a way that the Being which is created merely issues
from myself, but rather so that the act of production
takes place in accordance with an end which is full of
content. The labour of man by which the unity of the
finite and infinite is brought about only in so far as it is
penetrated throughout by Spirit and wrung out of the
action of Spirit, is, however, already a deeper sacrifice,
and an advance on that form under which sacrifice origi-
nally makes its appearance merely as the renunciation of
an immediate finitude ; for in this act of production the
sacrifice is a spiritual deed, and is the effort which, as
negation of particular self-consciousness, holds fast the
end which has its life within the inner region of thoughts
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 239
a'nd ideas, and brings it forth in an outward way for
sense-perception.
Hitherto we have considered the worship which be-
longs to this standpoint as it proceeds from the assumed
unity of self-consciousness and the Object. A falling
away from this original unity notwithstanding, often
makes its appearance here, a deviation from this state of
reconciliation, or from the sense of defect which gives
rise to the need for that state. This falling away has
its root partly in the freewill of the subject, in the enjoy-
ment which the individual has in his world, — for he is
not spiritually self-conscious, and is thus still inclina-
tion, desire, — or it comes in from another side, from the
power of Nature, from the misery of man, of the individual,
of peoples, or states. After a disturbance of this kind,
whereby the unity is interrupted, there is .constant need
of stern negation to restore it again.
Here we have the severance of the Divine and human,
and the meaning of worship is not the enjoyment of this
unity, but the abrogation of the separation. Here, too, we
have the presupposition of a reconciliation which exists
on its own account.
2. This severance or separation is, to begin with, one
which presents itself in the natural world, and it appears
here as some external disaster which falls upon a people.
God is here the substantial power, the power in the
spiritual as in the natural world. Now, if death, adverse
fortunes in war, pestilence, and other calamities weigh
upon a land, the direction which worship takes is that of
seeking to regain the goodwill of the gods, originally en-
joyed. It is the calamity which here constitutes the
severance ; it has reference to the natural sphere only,
the external state in respect of bodily existence, these
outward conditions not being such as the demand for
happiness requires. The assumption here is that this
natural state is not an accidental one, but depends upon
a higher Power, which determines itself as God : God
240 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
has laid down those conditions, has created them. A
further leading idea is that this Will which decrees the
calamity, acts in accordance with the moral connection
which implies that it goes well or ill with a man or with
a people because that man or that people has merited what
happens as their desert. The course of Nature is on this
account interrupted in reference to the purposes of men,
and thus Nature appears as antagonistic to their advan-
tage and prosperity. In the case of such severance, what
is requisite is the re-establishment of the unity of the
divine Will with the ends of men. Worship thus takes
the form of propitiation or atonement. This is brought
about by means of acts of repentance and expiation, by
sacrifice and ceremonies, in which man makes it manifest
that he is in earnest as regards the renunciation of his
particular will.
The view that God is the ruling power over Nature —
that Nature depends upon a higher Will — is what really
lies at the basis of this standpoint. The only question
which presents itself here is as to how far the divine Will
is represented in natural events — as to how it is to be
recognised in these. It is taken for granted from this
point of view that the power of Nature is not natural
only, but contains within itself purposes which, as such,
are foreign to it — namely, purposes of goodness, which
concern the welfare of man, and that that welfare is de-
pendent upon these purposes. We too recognise this as
true. But the well-being is of an abstract, universal
sort. When people speak of their well-being, they have
particular ends which are wholly their own as apart from
others, and thus they comprise their well-being within
limited, natural existence. But if a man descends in this
manner from the divine Will to particular ends, he de-
scends into the realm of finiteness and contingency. The
religious feeling, the pious thought that individual mis-
fortune is dependent upon the Good, rises also, it is true,
direct from the individual up to God, to the Universal,
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 241
and thus the sovereignty of the Universal over the Par-
ticular is acknowledged. But what next follows is the
application of this Universal to the Particular, and here
the defectiveness of this conception becomes evident.
Nations which are visited by calamity search after some
transgression as its cause, and then fly for refuge to a
Power which determines itself in accordance with ends.
Even although the presence of this Universal be conceded
here, its application to the Particular leads, on the other
hand, to a disparity or false relation.
In the disturbed relations which we find at this first
stage, unity appears as limited in character. It is capable
of being rent asunder ; it is not absolute, for it is an
original and unreflected unity. Thus, over this presup-
posed, immediate, and consequently destructible har-
mony, and over the celebration and enjoyment of it,
there still broods a Higher, a Supreme. For the original
unity is mere natural unity, and in being such is limited
for Spirit. P>eing encumbered with a natural element,
it has not that reality which it ought in accordance
with its notion to possess. This disunion must neces-
sarily come to be present for consciousness, for conscious-
ness is implicitly thinking Spirit. There must arise in
consciousness the need of an absolute unity which hovers
over that satisfying fruition, a unity which, however,
remains abstract only, since that original harmony is the
complete, concrete, and living foundation. Over this
sphere there hovers a sense of division which is not
resolved and harmonised, and thus through the gladness
of that living unity there sounds a jarring and unresolved
tone of mourning and of pain ; a fate, an unknown power,
a coercive necessity, unknown but recognised, without
reconciliation, to which consciousness submits, but only
by the negation of itself, broods over the heads of gods
and men. This is an element which is bound up with
the particular form of self- consciousness under con-
sideration.
VOL. I. Q
242 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Now it is just here that a special aspect of worship
presents itself. For in that first unity the negation of
the subject is superficial and accidental, and what broods
over the subject is only the feeling of sadness, the thought
of necessity, which is a negative element as opposed to
that living unity. But this negativity has also to be-
come actual, and prove itself to be a higher power over
that unity. This necessity does not remain merely an
idea or general conception ; the lot of man becomes a
stern one, the natural man passes away, .death makes
serious work with him, fate devours him, and he is com-
fortless, for the very reconciliation, the unity, is not that
of what is deepest and most inward; but, on the other
hand, the natural life is still an essential moment, and is
not relinquished. The division has not as yet gone so
far as this ; a unity of the natural and spiritual has, on
the contrary, remained, in which the former maintains an
affirmative character. This destiny has now to be trans-
formed for ordinary thought and in a subjective manner,
into the affirmative, and thus the spirits of the dead are
regarded as the unreconciled element which has to be
reconciled : they must . be avenged for the injustice of
their death. Here, accordingly, we have that service in
honour of the dead, which is an essential part or aspect
of worship.
3. The higher attitude, then, as compared with this
last stage of worship, is that where subjectivity has
arrived at the consciousness of its intrinsic infinitude.
It is here that religion and worship enter completely
into the domain of freedom. The subject knows itself to
be infinite, and knows itself to be such in its character as
subject. In this it is involved that what was formerly the
Unrevealed or Undisclosed has the moment of individu-
ality in itself, so that individuality by this 'means acquires
absolute value. But now individuality has value as being
this absolute and consequently purely universal singularity
or individuality. Here the individual exists only through
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 243
the abrogation of his immediate individuality, through
which abrogation he produces absolute individuality in
himself, and is consequently free in himself. This free-
dom exists as the movement of absolute Spirit in him by
the abrogation of the natural and finite. Man, in arriv-
ing at a consciousness of the infinity of his spirit, has
brought into view the element of division in its most
extreme form in regard both to Nature generally and to
himself: it is in this division that the domain of true
freedom has its origin. Through this knowledge of abso-
lute Spirit the opposition between infinite and finite has
entered in in its most extreme form, and this division is
the bearer of reconciliation. It is no longer asserted here
that man is good and is reconciled with absolute Spirit
from his birth, that is, in accordance with his immediate
nature ; but, on the contrary, that just because his concep-
tion is the absolutely free unity, that natural existence of
his directly proves itself to be in a state of opposition,
and consequently to be something which is to be abrogated
and absorbed. Nature, the heart in its immediate state,
is what has to be relinquished, because that moment does
not leave Spirit free, and as natural spirit it is not posited
by its own act. If the natural element be retained,
the spirit is not free. Accordingly, what it is, it is not
by its own act, or on its own account, but it finds itself
so. In that higher sphere, on the other hand, all that
man ought to be lies involved in the domain of freedom.
Here, then, worship essentially passes over into the
region of inner life ; here the heart must break, that is
to say, the natural will, the natural consciousness, is to
be relinquished. On the one hand, too, there are actual
sins, of which man has to repent, sins which, as single
acts, have a contingent character, and do not concern
human nature as such. But, on the other hand, in the
abstraction of finitude and infinitude — in that general
opposition — the finite, as such, is reputed to be evil.
That separation which is originally inherent in man has
244 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
to be annulled. And assuredly the natural will is not the
will as it ought to be, for it ought to be free, and the will
of passion is not free. By nature Spirit is not as it ought
to be ; by means of freedom only does it become such.
That the will is by nature evil is the form under which
this truth is presented here. But man is only guilty
if he adhere to this his natural character. Justice,
morality, are not the natural will, for in it a man is
selfish, his desire is only toward his individual life as such.
It is by means of worship, accordingly, that this evil ele-
ment is to be annulled. Man is not innocent in the sense
that he is neither good nor bad. What results from the
freedom of man is not natural innocence of this kind.
But man becomes educated to freedom, which has an
essential character only when it wills the essential will
and this will represents what is good, right, moral.
Man is to become free, that is to say, upright and
moral, and he is to become such by the way of education.
According to the view here referred to, this kind of edu-
cation is expressive of the overcoming of the evil ele-
ment, and as thus regarded it is posited in the sphere of
consciousness, while education takes place in an uncon-
scious manner. The abrogation of the antithesis of good
and evil has its place in this form of worship ; the natural
man is represented as evil, but the evil element is the
aspect of separation and estrangement, and this estrange-
ment is to be negated. There is also present the as-
sumption that reconciliation is potentially accomplished ;
in worship a man creates this assurance for himself, and
lays hold upon the potentially completed reconciliation.
It is, however, already perfected in and through God,
and it is this divine reality which man is to take to him-
self as his own.
But this appropriation of reconciliation takes place by
the negation of the estrangement, and therefore by means
of renunciation. And now the question arises, "What
then actually is it that man is to renounce ? Man is to
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 245
renounce his particular will, his passions and natural im-
pulses. This may be understood as if the impulses of
nature were to be eradicated, not merely purified — as if
the vitality of the will were to be slain. This is wholly
a mistake. What is true is that it is only the impure
content that is to be purified ; in other words, its content
is to be made conformable to the moral will. It is a
false demand, on the contrary, that is made when the re-
nunciation is conceived of in an abstract way as if the
impulse of vitality in itself were to be annulled. Pos-
session, personal property, is likewise a part of what per-
tains to man ; it is his by his own will ; therefore it
might now be demanded of him that he should relinquish
his possession ; celibacy is a demand of this kind. Free-
dom, conscience, belong also to man ; in the same sense
it may be required of him that he should give up his
freedom, his will, in which case he sinks down into a
gloomy, will-less creature. This is the extreme form of
such a demand. Connected with this part of the subject
is the idea that I should undo my deeds, and suppress
the workings of evil action. Eenunciation means here
that I do not desire to regard certain deeds which I have
committed as being my own, that I regard them as not
having taken place, that is, I desire to repent of them.
As regards time, it is true the action has passed by, so
that it is nullified by time. But as to its inner content,
in so far as it belongs to my will, it is still preserved in
the inner sphere, and the destruction of it then means,
relinquishment of the state of mind in which it exists
ideally. If punishment be the destruction of the evil
element in the sphere of reality, this destruction in the
inner life is penitence and contrition, and the Spirit is
able to accomplish this renunciation, since it has the
energy to effect a change in itself, and to annul in itself
the maxims and intentions of its will. If in this manner
a man renounces his selfishness and the separation be-
tween himself and goodness, he then has become a par-
246 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
taker of reconciliation, and by means of this internal
process has attained to peace. And thus it comes to
pass that Spirit here manifests itself in the subject as it
truly is in its essential nature, and in conformity with its
content, and that this content is no longer something be-
yond this world, but that free subjectivity has in it its
own Essence as its object. Worship is thus finally the
presence of the content which constitutes absolute Spirit,
and this makes the history of the divine content to be
essentially the history of mankind as well — the move-
ment of God toward man, and of man toward God.
Man knows himself to be essentially included in this
history, woven into it. While in contemplating it he
immerses himself in it, his immersion in it is the active
intermingling of this content and process, and he secures
for himself the certain knowledge and enjoyment of the
implied reconciliation.
This working out of subjectivity, this purification of
the heart from its immediate natural character — if it be
thoroughly carried out, and create a permanent condition
which corresponds with the universal end of subjectivity
— assumes a complete form as morality, and by this path
religion passes over into established custom, into the
State.
Thus it is that that essential connection known also
as the relation of religion to the State makes its appear-
ance. With regard to this, we have now to speak with
greater detail.
III. — THE RELATION OP RELIGION TO THE STATE.
I. The State is the true form of reality. In it the
true moral will comes into the sphere of reality, and
Spirit lives in its true nature. Religion is divine know-
ledge, the knowledge man has of God, the knowledge of
himself in God. This is the divine wisdom, and the
field of absolute Truth. But there is besides a second
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 247
wisdom, the wisdom of the world, and the question arises as
to the relation in which it stands to that divine wisdom.
In a general sense, religion and the foundation of the
State are one and the same ; they are in their real essence
identical. In the patriarchal condition, in the Jewish
theocracy, the two are not as yet separated, and are still
outwardly identical. But yet they are different, and in
the further course of events they are sharply separated
from one another, and then again are posited in true
identity. From what has just been said, the reason of
the existence of the essentially existing unity is already
clear. Religion is the knowledge of the highest truth,
and this truth more precisely defined is free Spirit. In
religion man is free before God ; in that he brings his
will into conformity with the divine will, he is not
in opposition to the supreme will, but possesses him-
self in it ; he is free, since in worship he has attained to
the annulling of the division. The State is only freedom
in the world, in the sphere of actuality. Everything
essentially depends here on the conception of freedom
which a people bears in its own self-consciousness, for in
the State the conception of freedom is realised, and to
this realisation the consciousness of freedom which exists
in its own right essentially belongs. Such nations as do
not know that man is free in his own right, live in a
condition of torpor, both as regards their form of govern-
ment and their religion. There is but one conception of
freedom in religion and the State. This one conception
is man's highest possession, and it is realised by man.
A nation which has a false or bad conception of God, has
also a bad State, bad government, bad laws.
The detailed consideration of this essential connection
between the State and religion belongs properly to the
Philosophy of History. It is only to be considered here
in the definite form under which it appears to ordinary
thought, and as it gets involved in contradictions in this
form, and, finally, as it arrives at the opposition between
248 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the two created by the interests of modern times. We
therefore, first of all, consider this connection as it is
ordinarily conceived.
2. Men are distinctly conscious of this connection, not,
however, in its true character as absolute, and as it is
known in philosophy, but rather they know and conceive
of it in a general way only. The mode in which the
idea of this connection finds expression is in the tracing
of laws, authority, and the constitution of the State to
a divine origin. They are considered as deriving their
authorisation from this source, and, in fact, from the
highest authority which can be conceived of. These laws
are the development of the conception of freedom, and
this latter, reflecting itself thus upon actual existence,
has the conception of freedom as it appears in religion
for its foundation and truth.
To say this implies that these laws of morality, of
right, are eternnl and unchangeable rules for the conduct
of man, that they are not arbitrary, but continue to exist
so long as religion itself continues to exist. We find a
general conception of this connection among all nations.
It may be taken as meaning that man obeys God in the
act of conforming to the laws, to the ruling authority, to
the powers which hold the State together. This way of
stating the matter is in one aspect correct enough, but in
this form the thought is exposed to the risk of being
taken in a wholly abstract sense, inasmuch as nothing is
determined regarding the explanation of what is involved
in the laws, nor as to what laws are fitted to form the
fundamental statutes. Expressed in this formal manner,
the meaning of the proposition is that men are to obey
the laws whatever they may happen to be. In this way
the act of governing and the giving of laws are abandoned
to the caprice of the governing power. This condition
of things has actually existed in Protestant States, and it
is only in such States that it can be found, for it is in
these that that unity of religion and the State actually
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 249
exists. The laws of the State are regarded as rational
and as having a divine character in virtue of this assumed
original harmony, and religion has not principles peculiar
to itself which contradict those which prevail in the State.
While, however, formal principles are adhered to, free
scope is given to caprice, to tyranny, and to oppression.
This state of things presented itself in a marked manner
in England (under the last kings of the House of Stuart)
when a passive obedience was demanded, and it was an
accepted principle that the ruler was responsible for his
actions to God only. This also involves the assumption
that it is the ruler alone who knows for certain what
is essential and necessary to the State ; for in him and
in his will is contained the principle in its more precise
form that he is an immediate revelation of God. This
principle, however, when further logically developed,
reaches the point at which it turns round into its direct
opposite, for the distinction between priests and laymen
does not exist among Protestants, and priests are ,not
privileged to be the sole possessors of divine revelation,
and still less does there exist any such privilege which
can belong exclusively to a layman. To the principle of
the divine authorisation of the ruler there is accordingly
opposed the principle of this same authorisation which is
held to be inherent in the laity in general. Thus there
arose a Protestant sect in England, the members of which
asserted that it had been imparted to them by revelation
how the people ought to be governed, and in accordance
with the directions thus received from the Lord, they raised
the standard of revolt, and beheaded their king. But
even supposing that the general principle at least has
been established that laws exist through an act of the
divine will, still there is another aspect of the matter
which is just as important, namely, that we should have a
rational knowledge of this divine will, and such knowledge
is not anything particular or special, but belongs to all.
To know and recognise what is rational is accordingly
250 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the business of cultured thought, and is specially the
business of philosophy, which may, perhaps, in this sense
be termed worldly wisdom. It is a matter of no im-
portance under what external form true laws have suc-
ceeded in establishing themselves, and whether they have
been extorted by threats out of rulers or not ; the culti-
vation and development of the conception of freedom, of
right, of humanity, is on its own account necessary to
mankind. With regard to the truth that laws are the
divine will, it is therefore of the utmost moment to deter-
mine what these laws are. Principles as such are mere
abstract thoughts, which only attain their truth in being
unfolded and developed ; held fast in their abstract state,
they represent what is wholly untrue.
3. Finally, the State and religion may be severed from
one another, and may have different laws. What is
worldly and what is religious stand on a different basis,
and a distinction in regard to principle also may make its
appearance here. Religion does not merely keep to its
own proper sphere, but concerns the subject too, prescribes
rules in reference to his religious life, and consequently in
reference to his active life also. Those rules which reli-
gion makes for the individual may be different from the
fundamental principles of right and of morality which pre-
vail in the State. The form in which this contradiction
expresses itself is that the demands of religion have refer-
ence to holiness ; those of the State, to right and morality :
what is in view on the one side is Eternity ; on the other,
Time and temporal welfare, which must be sacrificed to
eternal well-being. In this way a religious ideal is set
up — a heaven upon earth ; in other words, the abstraction
of Spirit as against the substantial element of the actual
world. Renunciation of this actual world is the funda-
mental principle which appears here, and with it appear
conflict and flight. Something quite different, which is to
be regarded as higher, is set in opposition to the substan-
tial foundation, to the True.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 251
The primary moral relation in the substantial world of
reality is marriage. The love which God is, is in the
sphere of reality, conjugal love. As the primary manifes-
tation of the substantial will in the concretely existing
world, this love has a natural side ; but it is a moral
duty as well. To this duty, renunciation — celibacy — is
opposed as something holy.
Secondly, as a unit, man has to engage in a conflict
with the necessity of nature ; for him it is a moral law,
that he should render himself independent by means of
his activity and understanding, for in his natural aspect
man is dependent on many sides. By his spiritual nature,
by his sense of honesty, he is placed under the necessity
of earning his livelihood, and thus setting himself free
from that necessity of nature. This is man's honesty or
integrity. A religious duty which has been placed in
opposition to this worldly one requires that man should
not exercise activity in this fashion, and should not trouble
himself with such cares as these. The entire sphere of
action, of all that activity which connects itself with gain,
with industries, and such like, is consequently abandoned.
Man is not to take to do with such ends. Want, how-
ever, is more rational here than such religious views. On
the one side the activity of man is represented here as
something unholy ; on the other, it is even demanded of
him, if he have a possession, not only that he should not
increase it by his activity, but that he should give it
away to the poor, and especially to the Church — that is
to say, to those who do nothing, do not work. Thus, what
in life is highly esteemed as integrity is consequently
repudiated as unholy.
Thirdly, the highest morality in the State is based upon
the carrying into effect of the rational universal will; in the
State the subject possesses his freedom, this being realised
or actualised in the State. In opposition to this a religious
duty is set up, in accordance with which man is not permitted
to make freedom his object and end. On the contrary, he
252 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
is to subject himself to a strict obedience ; he is to abide in
the condition of will-lessness ; and more than this, he is to
be selfless in his conscience too ; in his faith, in his deeper
inner life, he is to renounce himself and cast away his self.
When religion lays its arrest on the active life of man
in this manner, it can prescribe peculiar rules to him which
are in opposition to the rationality of the world. In con-
trast to this action of religion, worldly wisdom, which
recognises the element of truth in the sphere of reality,
makes its appearance, the principles of its freedom are
awakened in the consciousness of the Spirit, and here the
demands of freedom are seen to enter into conflict with
the religious principles which required that renunciation.
Such is the relation in which religion and the State stand
toward one another in Catholic States when subjective
freedom awakes in men.
In connection with this contradiction, religion expresses
itself in a negative way only, and requires of man that he
should renounce all freedom ; put in a more definite form,
this contradiction means that man in his actual or secular
consciousness generally is essentially without rights, and
religion recognises no absolute rights in the domain of
actual or secular morality. So enormous is the change
which has in consequence of this made its appearance in
the modern world, that it is even asked whether the freedom
of man is to be recognised as something which is really
and essentially true, or whether it may be repudiated by
religion.
It has been stated already that it is possible that there
should be harmony between religion and the State. This
is the case in a general sense in Protestant States so far
as the principle is concerned, though indeed the harmony
is of an abstract kind ; for Protestantism demands that
a man should only believe what he knows, that his con-
science should be regarded as a holy thing that. is not to
be touched or interfered with. In connection with the
working of divine grace man is no passive being ; he him-
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 253
self plays an essential part, and co-operates with God by
exercising his "subjective freedom, and in his acts of know-
ing, willing, and believing, the presence of the moment of
subjective freedom is expressly required. In States where
different religions prevail, it may happen, on the other hand,
that the two sides do not agree, that the religion is different
from the principle of the State. We see this to be the case
over a very widely extended area : we find, on the one side,
a religion which does not recognise the principle of free-
dom; on the other, a constitution which makes that prin-
ciple its basis. If it be said that man is in his true nature
free, then this certainly expresses a principle of infinite
value. But if an abstraction of this kind be adhered to,
it effectually prevents the development of any kind of
organically-constituted government, for this demands a
systematic organisation in which duties and rights are
limited. That abstraction permits of no inequality, and
inequality there must necessarily be if an organism, and
with it true vitality, are to exist.
Such principles as these are true, but they must not
be taken in their abstract meaning. The knowledge of
the truth that man is free in virtue of his real nature,
that is, in virtue of his true conception, belongs to modern
times. Now whether the abstraction be adhered to or
not, it may in either case happen that to these principles
a religion stands opposed, which does not acknowledge
them, but regards them as illegitimate, and holds that free-
will or caprice alone is legitimate. This necessarily gives
rise to a conflict which does not permit of adjustment in
a true way. Eeligion demands the annulling of the will ;
the worldly principle, on the contrary, takes it for its
starting-point. If such religious principles succeed in
establishing themselves, it cannot but happen that the
government should proceed by force and suppress the
religion which is thus opposed to it, or else treat those
who belong to it as a faction. Religion, in the form of
the Church, may indeed act discreetly here, and be out-
254 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
wardly compliant, but in such a case the feeling of in-
consistency enters into the minds of men. The com-
munity clings to a definite religion, and cleaves at the
same time to principles which are in opposition to it ;
in so far as people carry these out, while at the same
time they wish to continue to belong to that definite
religion, they are guilty of great inconsistency. Thus
for example, the French who hold fast to the prin-
ciple of worldly freedom, have as a matter of fact
ceased to belong to the Catholic religion, for that religion
can relinquish nothing, but consistently demands uncon-
ditional submission to the Church in everything. In
this way religion and the State come to be in contradic-
tion to each other, and religion is in this case left to get
along how it can. It passes for being something which
is merely the affair of individuals, about which the State
has no occasion to concern itself ; and then it is further
asserted that religion is not to be mixed up with the
constitution of the State. The laying down of those
principles of freedom goes on the assumption that they
are true because they are in essential connection with
the inmost consciousness of man. If, however, it be
really reason which finds these principles, the verification
it gives of them, so far as they are true and do not
remain formal, consists in this only, that it traces them
up to the rational knowledge of absolute truth, and this
is just the object of philosophy. This tracing up, how-
ever, must be accomplished in a complete manner, and
carried to the ultimate point of analysis ; for if rational
knowledge does not attain completeness in itself, it runs
the risk of becoming the one-sidedness of formalism ; but
if it penetrate to the ultimate ground, it reaches that
which is recognised as the Highest — as God. It may
perhaps be affirmed with regard to this, that the constitu-
tion of the State ought to remain on the one side, and
religion on the other. But here there is a danger that
such principles may remain infected with one-sidedness.
255
At the present day we see the world full of the principle
of freedom, and we see that principle brought into special
relation with the constitution of the State. These prin-
ciples are correct, but when infected with formalism
they are assumptions or presuppositions, since rational
knowledge or cognition has not penetrated to the ultimate
ground. It is there alone that reconciliation with what
is absolutely Substantial is to be found.
The other aspect of the matter which falls to be con-
sidered in connection with the separation just spoken of
is this — that if the principles of actual freedom are made
the basis, and these develop into a system of Eight, then,
given positive laws consequently come into existence
and these acquire the general form of judicial laws in
relation to individuals. The upholding of the existing
legislation is handed over to the courts of justice ; who-
ever transgresses the law is brought up for trial, and the
existence of the community as a whole is made to rest
on laws in this legal form. Over against this, however,
stands that subjective conviction, that inner life which
is the very home of religion. In this way two sides,
both of which pertain to the actual world, are mutually
opposed, namely, positive legislation, and the subjective
disposition or feeling in reference to this legislation.
As regards the constitution of the State, there are two
systems here — the modern system iu which the essential
characteristics of freedom and its whole structure are
upheld in a formal manner to the disregard of subjective
conviction. The other system is that of subjective con-
viction— which represents, speaking generally, the Greek
principle, and which we find developed in a special way
iu the Eepublic of Plato. Here simply a few orders
constitute the foundation, while the State as a whole is
based upon education, upon culture, which is to advance
to science and philosophy. Philosophy is to be the ruling
power, and by means of it man is to be led to morality :
all orders are to be partakers of the a-ax
256 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
The two sides — the subjective conviction and that
formal constitution — are inseparable, and neither can do
without the other ; but in recent times a one-sided view
has made its appearance, according to which the con-
stitution is to be self-sustaining, and subjective disposi-
tion or private conviction, religion, conscience, are to be
set aside as matters of indifference, it being no concern
of the government what may be the sentiments or private
convictions of individuals, or what form of religion they
profess. How one-sided this is, however, is clearly seen
when we consider that the administration of the laws is
in the hands of judges, and hence everything depends
upon their uprightness, as also upon their insight, for
the law does not rule, but men have to make it rule.
This carrying of the law into effect is something concrete ;
the will of men, and their power of insight, too, must
contribute their share. The intelligence of the individual
must therefore often decide, because although civil laws
are very comprehensive, yet they cannot touch each
special case. But subjective conviction by itself is one-
sided, too, and the Republic of Plato suffers from the
defect which this implies. At the present day men will
not rely at all upon intelligence, but insist on every-
thing being deduced in accordance with positive laws.
A striking example of this one-sidedness has been given
us in connection with the most recent contemporary
history. We have seen a religious sentiment or convic-
tion taking its place at the head of the French Govern-
ment, a conviction for which the State generally was
something illegitimate and devoid of rights, while it
itself took up an antagonistic attitude to all that was
actually established, to justice, and morality. The last
revolution was thus the result of the dictates of a reli-
gious conscience, which contradicted the principles of
the constitution, and yet, according to that same con-
stitution, it is not of any importance what religion
individuals may profess. The two elements which occa-
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGION 237
sion this collision are still very far from being brought
into harmony.
This private sentiment or subjective conviction does
not necessarily assume the form of religion ; it may also
continue in a more indefinite state. But amongst what
we call " the people," ultimate truth does not exist in the
form of thought and principles. On the contrary, what
will pass with the people as right or justice can hold this
position only in so far as it has a definite, special character,
Now this definite character of justice and morality has its
ultimate verification for a people only in the form of
an actually existing religion, and if this last is not essen-
tially in harmony with the principles of freedom, there
is always present a rent, and an unresolved division or
dualism, — an antagonistic relation which ought not to
exist in the State, of all places. Under Robespierre terror
reigned in France, and this " terror " was directed against
those who did not hold the sentiments of freedom, be-
cause they had fallen under suspicion — that is to say,
because of the existence of this conviction or sentiment.
In the same way the Ministry of Charles X. fell under
suspicion. According to the formal principles of the
constitution, the monarch was responsible to no one,
but this formal principle did not hold its ground, and
the dynasty was hurled from the throne. It thus
becomes evident that even in the formally-matured con-
stitution tlie ultimate sheet-anchor is still the general
sentiment or feeling which has been put on one side in
that constitution, and which now asserts itself in con-
tempt of all form. It is from this contradiction, and
from the prevailing insensibility to it, that our age is
suffering.
Transition to the Following Section.
We have distinguished definite, limited worship from
worship in the element of freedom, and thus have found
VOL. I. R
258 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the same distinction which is, in fact, involved in the
idea of God.
The two aspects of Spirit — of Spirit in its objectivity,
when it is pre-eminently known as God, and of Spirit
in its subjectivity, — constitute the reality of the absolute
notion or conception of God, who, as the absolute unity
of these His two moments, is Absolute Spirit. The de-
terminate character of any one of these aspects corre-
sponds with the other aspect ; it is the all-pervading uni-
versal form in which the Idea is found, and which again
constitutes one stage in the totality of its development.
As regards these stages of realisation, the following
general distinction has already been established in what
has gone before, namely, that according to the one form
of reality, Spirit is confined to a certain specific form
in which its Being and self-consciousness appear, while
according to the other, again, it is its absolute reality, in
which it has the developed content of the Idea of Spirit
as its object. This form of reality is the true religion.
In accordance with this distinction, definite religion
will in the following section be treated of first of all.
PART II
DEFINITE RELIGION
PART II
DEFINITE RELIGION
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT
WHEN we speak of definite religion, it is implied, in the
first place, that religion generally is taken as a genus,
and the definite religions as species. This relation of
genus to species is, from one point of view, quite legiti-
mate, as, for instance, when in other sciences we pass
over from the universal to the particular ; but there the
particular is only understood in an empirical manner; it
is a matter of experience that this or the other animal,
this or that kind of justice exists. In philosophical
science it is not allowable to proceed in this way. The
particular cannot advance towards the universal ; on the
contrary, it is the universal itself which resolves upon
determination, upon particularisation ; the Notion differ-
entiates itself, makes a determination which originates
with itself or is its own act. Simultaneously with deter-
minateness in general, existence or definite Being and
essential connection with an "Other" are posited. That
which is determined is for an " Other," and what is unde-
termined is not there at all. That for which religion
exists — the definite existence of religion — is conscious-
ness. Eeligion has its reality as consciousness. • What
is to be understood by the realisation of the Notion is
that the content is determined by means of it, both as
regards the fact and the manner of its existence for con-
sciousness. Our course of procedure is as follows : We
began with the consideration of the notion or conception
262 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
of religion, of what religion implicitly is. That is what
it is for us, as we have seen it. For it to attain to con-
sciousness is, however, quite another matter. Or, to put it
in other words, as we considered the conception of religion,
this was our thought, it existed in the medium of our
thought, we thought the conception, and it had its reality
in our thought. But religion is not merely this subjec-
tive element, but is essentially objective ; it has a mode
of existence of its own, and the first form of this exist-
ence is that of immediacy, where religion has not as yet
itself advanced to thought, to reflection. This imme-
diacy, however, by its own onward impulse moves
toward mediation, because it is potentially thought, and
in true religion it becomes for the first time known what
it essentially is, what its notion or conception is. True
or actual religion is adequate to its notion or conception.
We now have to consider the course by which true reli-
gion takes its rise. In its notion or conception religion
is no religion as yet, for it is essentially present as such
in consciousness only. This is the meaning of what we
are here considering, namely, the self-realisation of the
Notion. The progress of the realisation has been already
indicated in a general way : the Notion is, as it were, a
capacity in Spirit ; it constitutes its inmost truth ; but
Spirit must attain to the knowledge of this truth ; not till
then does true religion become real and actual. It may
be said of all religions that they are religions, and cor-
respond with the notion or conception of religion. At the
same time, however, in being still limited, they do not
correspond with the notion, and yet they must contain it,
or else they would not be religions. But the notion or
conception is present in them in different ways. At
first they contain it implicitly only. These definite reli-
gions are but particular moments of the notion, and for
that very reason they do not correspond with it, for it
does not exist in an actual shape in them. In like
manner, man certainly is implicitly free, but Africans and
DEFINITE RELIGION 263
Asiatics are not free, because they do not possess the
consciousness of that which constitutes the notion or
conception of man. Religion is now to be considered in
its determinate character. The highest that is or can be
attained to is that the determinateness should be the
Notion itself, where the limits are therefore annulled,
and the religious consciousness is not distinguished from
the Notion. This is the Idea, the perfectly realised
Notion, but this does not come before us until we reach
the concluding division of our subject.
It has been the work of Spirit throughout thousands
of years to,work out the notion or conception of religion,
and to make it the subject of consciousness. In this work
the movement begins from immediacy and nature, and
these must be overcome. Immediacy is the natural ele-
ment ; consciousness, however, is elevation above nature ;
natural consciousness is sensuous consciousness, as the
natural will is passion ; it is the individual which wills
itself in accordance with its naturalness, its particu-
larity— it is sensuous knowing and sensuous willing.
But religion is the relation of Spirit to Spirit, the know-
ledge by Spirit of Spirit in its truth, and not in its imme-
diacy or naturalness. The determination or characterisa-
tion of religion is the advance from naturalness to the
notion ; this latter is, to begin with, the inner element
only, the true essence or potentiality, not the outer ele-
ment of consciousness. Regarding this ambiguity, namely,
that the notion exists primarily or originally, while at
the same time its first existence is not its true primariness
or originality, some further remarks will be made later.
We have first to give the division of the subject, and
to indicate the particular forms of these definite religions
which have to be considered. To begin with, however,
this must be done in a general manner only.
The sphere we have first to deal with contains, accord-
ingly, definite religion, which, so far as its content is
concerned, does not as yet go beyond determinateness.
264 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
In the active process of emerging from immediacy, we do
not yet find the freedom which has been truly conquered,
but only liberation, which is still entangled in that from
which it frees itself.
What we have now to consider first is the form of
natural, immediate religion. In this primal natural reli-
gion consciousness is still natural consciousness, the con-
sciousness of sensuous desire. It is thus immediate.
Here there does not as yet exist any division of con-
sciousness within itself, for this division or dualism
implies that consciousness distinguishes its sensuous
nature from what belongs to its essential Being, so that
the natural is known only as mediated through the
Essential. It is here that it first becomes possible for
religion to originate.
In connection with this rising up to the Essential we
have to consider the conception of this exaltation in general.
Here the object is defined in a positive way, and this true
element from which consciousness distinguishes itself is
God. This exaltation or rising up is exactly what appears
in a more abstract form in the proofs of the existence of
God. In all these proofs there is one and the same exalta-
tion ; it is only the point of departure and the nature of
this Essence which are different. But this rising up to
God, however it may be defined, is only the one side.
The other is the reverse process. God, in whatever way
He may be defined, brings Himself into relation with the
subject which has thus lifted itself. Here then comes
in the question as to the manner in which the subject is
characterised or defined ; it, however, knows that it itself
is what God is determined to be.
The conscious turning of the subject toward this
Essence has to be treated of likewise, and this introduces
the aspect of Worship, — the close union of the subject
with its Essence.
The division of the subject takes, therefore, the follow-
ing form : —
DEFINITE RELIGION 265
1 . Natural Religion. — This is the unity of the spiritual
and natural, and God is here conceived of in this aspect
as yet natural unity. Man in his immediacy represents
merely sensuous natural knowledge and natural volition.
In so far as the moment of religion is contained in this,
and the moment of elevation is still shut up within the
natural state, there is something present which is to
be regarded as higher than anything merely immediate.
This is magic.
2. We have the division or dualism of consciousness
within itself. This implies that consciousness knows itself
to be something merely natural, and distinguishes from
this the True, the Essential, in which this naturalness, this
fmiteness has no value, and is known to be a nullity.
While in natural religion Spirit still lives in neutrality
with nature, God is now defined as the absolute Power
or Substance in which natural will — the subject — is
something transient, accidental, selfless, and devoid of
freedom. Here it is man's highest dignity that he should
know himself to be a nullity.
At first, however, elevation of spirit above the natural
is not carried through in a consistent manner. On the
contrary, there is still a frightful inconsistency here, as is
shown in the way in which the different spiritual and
natural powers are mixed up with one another. This
intrinsically inconsistent elevation has an historical exist-
ence in the three Oriental religions of Substance.
3. But the entanglement of the natural and spiritual
leads to the conflict of subjectivity, for the latter seeks
to reinstate itself in its unity and universality, and this
conflict again has had its historical existence in three
religions, which constitute the religions of the transition
to the stage of free subjectivity. Since, however, in
these too, as well as in the previous stages, Spirit has not
as yet completely subjected the natural element to itself,
they constitute, together with the preceding ones, the
sphere —
=66 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
A.
OF THE RELIGION OF NATURE.
In contrast with this, the second stage of definite reli-
gion, at which the elevation of Spirit is carried through
in a consistent manner in relation to the natural element,
is —
B.
THE RELIGION OF SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUALITY OR OF
FREE SUBJECTIVITY.
It is here that the spiritual independent existence of
the subject begins. Here thought is what rules and
determines, and the element of naturalness being merely
a moment preserved within the process, is degraded to
the state of what is a mere show or semblance, and is
regarded as something which is accidental relatively to
the Substantial. Its relation to the latter is such that it
is only natural life, material form for the subject, or, in
other words, is under the absolute determination of the
subject.
And here again, too, we get three forms : —
i. Inasmuch as the spiritual being-for-self or inde-
pendent existence thus brings itself into prominence, it is
that which is held fast as reflection into itself, and as
negation of the natural unity. There is thus One God only
who is in thought, and natural life is merely a posited
life, standing as such over against Him, having no sub-
stantial character of its own in relation to Him, and
existing only through the Essence of thought. This is
the spiritually One, God, who is in Himself eternally un-
changeable, in relation to whom what is of nature, of the
world, of the finite generally, is posited as something
having an unessential character, and devoid of substan-
tiality. But this God thereby openly shows Himself,
since it is only by the positing of the unessential that
DEFINITE RELIGION 267
He is the essential, since it is only through that positing
that He even is at all ; and this unessential, this sem-
blance or show of existence, is not a manifestation of
Him. This is the Eeligion of Sublimity.
2. The Natural and the Spiritual are united, still they
are not in immediate union, but in a unity which im-
plies that the Spiritual is what determines, and is so
united with the bodily element that this last does not
stand over against it, but is merely an organ, is its
expression, in which it outwardly presents itself. This
is the religion of divine outward manifestation, of divine
corporeality, materiality, naturalness,' and this is of such a
kind that it is the appearing of subjectivity, or else the self-
manifestation of subjectivity is present in it, not appear-
ing for others only, but appearing to itself. Thus this
spiritual individuality is not the limitless individuality
of pure thought ; it has a spiritual character only. Thus
on the one hand the Natural is, as it were, the body of
the Spiritual, and owing to the fact that the Spiritual
thus makes use of a body, the subject is on the other
hand determined as finite. This is the Eeligion of
Beauty.
In the religion of sublimity the one God is the Lord,
and individuals stand related to Him as servants. In
the religion of beauty, too, the subject has purified itself
from its mere immediate knowing and willing, but it has
also retained its will and knows itself as free, and knows
itself thus because it has completed the negation of its
natural will, and as moral has a free affirmative relation to
God. But the subject has not as yet passed through the
consciousness, and through the opposition of good and
evil, and so is still affected with naturalness. If, therefore,
the religion of beauty forms the stage of reconciliation as
contrasted with the sphere of sublimity, this reconcilia-
tion is still immediate reconciliation, because it is not yet
mediated through consciousness of the opposition.
3. The religion in which the notion, the independent,
263 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
self-determined, concrete content, has its beginning, and is
the end or purpose which the universal powers of nature
or the gods of the religion of beauty serve, is the Religion
of External Utility or Conformity to an End. We have
here a concrete content which comprises determinate
characteristics within itself, implying that the hitherto
separate individual powers are made subservient to one
single end or purpose. The particular subject has
hitherto been something other than these divine powers ;
these constitute the divine content generally, and the
particular subject is human consciousness, the finite end.
The divine content is now of use to that culminating
point of subjectivity which was wanting to the content
in the religion of beauty, as a means whereby it can
fully develop itself. Thus the form under which religion
here presents itself is that of outward finite purpose, or
adaptation to an end. The idea of Spirit determines
itself on its own account and by its own act ; it is clearly
itself the end, and this end is just the notion or concep-
tion of Spirit, the notion which realises itself. Here
the Spiritual too is an end, has the intrinsically concrete
determinations within itself, but here too these are still
finite and represent a limited end, which consequently is
not as yet the relation of Spirit to itself. In its gods
the particular spirit seeks its own subjective end only ;
it seeks itself, not the absolute content.
The religion of utility or adaptation to an end, in
which an end is posited in God, though not yet as the
absolute end, may also be called the Eeligion of Fate,
because that end itself is not as yet a pure spiritual end,
but is in its form as a particular end forthwith posited
in God. This particular end, when treated thus, is void
of rational character as against other ends which would
have just as much right to exist as it.
This division of the subject must not be taken in a
merely subjective sense; it is, on the contrary, the necessary
pne in the objective sense of the nature of Spirit. Spirit,
DEFINITE RELIGION 269
in the particular form in which it appears in religion, is
first of all natural religion. What next takes place is
that reflection enters, Spirit becomes free within itself,
becomes the subjective generally, which notwithstanding
issues out of the unity of nature, and is still related to it.
This is conditioned freedom. The third stage is repre-
sented by the willing of Spirit to determine itself within
itself, and this accordingly appears in the form of an end,
of adaptation to an end on its own account. This, too, is
at first still finite and limited. Such are the fundamental
determinations, which are the moments or stages of the
development of the Notion, and at the same time of con-
crete development.
These stages may be compared to those of the ages of
man. The child is still in the primal immediate unity
of the will with nature, as representing both his own
nature and the nature which surrounds him. The
second stage, adolescence, when individuality is in process
of becoming independent, is the living spirituality, the
vitality of Spirit, which, while setting no end before it as
yet, moves forward, has aspirations, and takes an interest
in everything which conies in its way. The third is the
age of manhood ; this is the period of work for a parti-
cular end, to which the man makes himself subservient,
to which he devotes his energies. Finally, old age might
be considered as a last stage, which having the Universal
before it as an end, and recognising this end, has turned
back from the particular interests of life and work to the
universal aim, the absolute final end, and has, as it were,
gathered itself together out of the wide and manifold
interests of actual outward existence and concentrated
itself in the infinite depths of its inner life. Such are
the determinations which follow in a logical manner
from the nature of the Notion. At the close it will
become apparent that even the original immediacy does
not exist as immediacy, but is something posited. The
child itself is something begotten.
2;o THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
FIjRST DIVISION.
I.
IMMEDIATE RELIGION.
Immediate religion is what has in recent times been
called natural religion. It coincides with the religion of
nature in so far as thought is brought into prominence in
the latter.
What in recent times has been understood by " the
religion of nature " is what man is capable of discovering
and knowing of God by his own unassisted powers, by
means of the natural light of his reason. Thus it has
been customary to contrast it with revealed religion, and
to maintain that what he has in his reason can alone be
true for men. But natural reason is a wrong expression ;
for what we understand by " natural " is the natural as
sensuous, the Immediate. The nature of reason is rather
the notion or conception of reason. It belongs to the
very essence of Spirit to rise above nature. Natural
reason in its true meaning is Spirit, reason according to
the Notion, and this is in no kind of opposition to re-
vealed religion. God, the Spirit, can only reveal Himself
to Spirit, to reason.
Merely metaphysical religion, to speak more precisely,
has in recent times been called natural religion, in so
far as metaphysic has conveyed the same meaning as
thoughts of the understanding, ideas formed by the
understanding. This is that modern religion of the
understanding which is known as Deism, the result of
Enlightenment — that knowing of God as an abstract
something, to which abstraction all attributes of God,
all faith, are reduced. This cannot be properly called
natural religion ; it is the ultimate point reached by the
extreme development of the abstract understanding, as
the result of the Critique of Kant.
DEFINITE RELIGION 271
It remains for us now to refer to a popular conception
which, because of the sense attached in it to "natural
religion," makes a definite claim upon our consideration
here. "What we refer to is the idea that immediate re-
ligion must be the true, the finest, the divine religion ;
and further, that it must, too, have been historically the
first form of religion. According to the division we have
made, it is the most imperfect, and for that reason the
first ; and according to this other idea, it is the first, too,
but also the truest religion. Natural religion is, as already
remarked, so characterised that in it the Spiritual is in
this original, untroubled, undisturbed unity with the
Natural. This characterisation is, however, taken here
as the absolute and true one, and this religion therefore
is regarded as the divine religion. Man, it is said, had
a true original religion in the state of innocence, before
that division or separation which is known as the Fall
had as yet appeared in his intelligence. This is founded
a priori on the idea that spirits were created by God as
the absolutely Good, as images of Himself, and these
being in conformity with God, stood in an absolute and
essential connection with Him. Under these conditions,
Spirit too lived in unity with nature ; it was not as yet
reflected into itself, had not as yet designed this separa-
tion from nature. As regards its practical side, as regards
its will, it still remained in the region of happy faith, was
still in the state of innocence, and was absolutely good.
It is with free-will that guilt first takes its rise, and this
means that passion establishes itself in a freedom of its
own, that the subject takes out of itself merely such
qualities as it has distinguished from what belongs to
nature. Plants are in this state of unity ; their life is
lived in this unity of nature. The individual plant does
not become untrue to its nature ; it becomes what it
ought to be ; in it Being and destined character are not
different. This separation in anything between what
ought-to-be, and its nature, first makes its appearance
272 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
with free-will, and this last is first found in reflection ;
but this very reflection and division was not present, we
are told, originally, and freedom was as identical with
law and rational will as the individual plant is identical
with its nature.
In like manner people imagine that in the state of
innocence man is perfect in regard to his theoretical
consciousness. He seems to determine himself here as
identical with nature and the true conception of things ;
his own true being and that of the things have not as
yet separated from each other ; he sees into their very
heart ; nature is not as yet a negative element to him,
not something obscured. Not until separation appears
does the sensuous rind which separates him from them
grow around these things ; nature in this way sets up a
wall of partition against me.. Thus it is said that in
such a relation Spirit knows the universal true nature of
things, having an immediate knowledge, understanding of
them in perception or picture-thought, just because per-
ception is a knowing, a seeing clearly, which may be
compared with the state of somnambulism, in which the
soul or life returns to this unity of inwardness with its
world. Thus the nature of things had, it is supposed,
lain open to that original perceiving understanding, be-
cause for it that nature is emancipated from the external
conditions of space and time, from the character ascribed
to things by the understanding. It follows from this
that in this unity Spirit, in the exercise of free imagina-
tion, which is no kind of caprice, sees things according
to their notion, according to their true nature, and the
things seen are determined through the notion, appear
in everlasting beauty, and stand above that stuntedness
which conditions phenomena. In short, Spirit has had
before it and has beheld the Universal in the Particular
in its pure outward shape, and the Particular, the Indi-
vidual in its universality as a divine, god-like vitality.
And man, in having thus grasped nature in. its inmost
DEFINITE RELIGION 273
character, and recognised its true relation to the corre-
sponding side of his own nature, has taken up a relation
to nature as to something which is an adequate garment
for Spirit, and one which is not destructive of organisa-
tion. With this general conception the idea is bound
up that Spirit has consequently been in possession of all
art and science, and it is further imagined that if man
is found within the universal harmony, he beholds
harmonious substance— -God Himself — in an immediate
manner ; not as an abstraction of thought, but as a
definite Being.
Such is the general idea given of that primitive reli-
gion which is supposed to be the immediate religion, and
historically the first. Perhaps, too, an attempt is made
to confirm this idea by appealing to one aspect of the
Christian religion. We are told in the Bible of a Para-
dise ; many peoples have the idea of such a Paradise as
lying behind them, and lament over it as a lost one,
thinking of it as the goal for which man yearns, and to
which he will attain. Such a Paradise, whether it belong
to the past or be looked for in the future, is then filled
up with moral or unmoral content, according to the stage
of culture which has been reached by the peoples in
question.
In reference to the criticism of such a general concep-
tion as this, it must be stated, in the first place, that
such a conception is, as regards its essential substance, a
necessary one. The Universal, the inner element, is the
divine unity in a human reflex, or, in other words, the
thought of the man who stands within this unity as such
a reflex. Thus men have the idea that Being-in-and-for-
itself, true Being, is a harmony which has not as yet
passed over into division or dualism, which has not yet
broken up into the dualism of good and evil, nor into
the subordinate dualism represented by the multiplicity,
intensity, and passion of human needs. This unity,
this condition in which the contradictions are resolved,
VOL. I. S
undoubtedly contains truth, and is in entire agreement
with the Notion. But the more precise shape under which
this unity is represented as a condition in time, as a
unity which ought not to have been lost, and which was
only lost by accident, is somethiug altogether different.
This is a confounding of what is first as representing the
Notion with the reality of consciousness, as this reality is
adequate or proportionate to the Notion.
We must therefore do this general conception justice.
It contains in itself the necessary Idea of the divine self-
consciousness, of the serene untroubled consciousness of
the absolutely divine Essence. In it this fundamental
determination must not only be allowed to be correct, but
also to be a true idea from which to start. This idea is
that man is no merely natural being as such, no mere
animal, but Spirit. In so far as he is Spirit, he has, in
short, this universality within himself, the universality
of rationality, which is concrete thought in its activity.
He has the instinct, too, to know the universal, to know
that nature is rational ; not, indeed, that it is conscious
reason, but that it has reason within itself.
Thus the spirit knows, too, that God is rational, is
absolute reason, the absolute activity of reason; and thus
it has instinctively the belief that it must know God as
well as nature, must find its essence in God, if it takes
up toward Him an attitude of rational investigation.
This unity of man with God, with nature in the general
sense as Potentiality, is undoubtedly the substantial,
essential determination. Man ?s reason, is Spirit ; by
means of this quality or capacity he is implicitly the
True. That, however, is the Notion, Potentiality, and
in forming an idea of what the Notion, the Potentiality
is, people usually end in representing it to themselves
as something belonging either to the past or else to the
future, not as being an inner element which exists on its
own account, but in external, immediate existence, in
-some shape or other, as a state or condition. It is thus
DEFINITE RELIGION 27$
the form of the existence, or the mode of the state oiily,
which is in question. The Notion is the inner element,
the Potentiality, which has not yet, however, entered upon
existence. The question therefore presents itself, What
is there to prevent us from believing that the Potentiality
has been present from the beginning as actual existence ?
What prevents this is the nature of Spirit. Spirit is only
what it makes itself become. This bringing out of that
which it potentially is, is the positing of the Notion in
existence.
The Notion must realise itself, and the realisation of
the Notion, the active processes by means of "which it
actualises itself, and the shapes and manifestations of this
nctualisatiou which are at hand, have an outward appear-
ance which is something different from what the simple
Notion is within itself. The Notion, the Potentiality, is
iiot a state, an existence. On the contrary, it is to the
realisation of the Notion that states, existence, are due,
and this realisation must be of a quite different kind from
what is contained in that description of Paradise.
Man exists essentially as Spirit ; Spirit does not, how-
ever, exist in an immediate manner. It is, on the con-
trary, its essential nature to be for itself, or self-conscious,
to be free, to place the natural over against itself, to
escape from its immersion in nature, to sever itself from
nature, and only through and as following on this sever-
ance, to reconcile itself with nature, and not with nature
alone, but with its own Essence too, with its truth.
It is this unity, which thus springs from division or
dualism, which is alone self-conscious, true unity ; it is
not . that state of natural unity which is a oneness not
worthy of Spirit, not the unity of Spirit.
If that state be designated the state of innocence, it
may appear objectionable to say that man must come out
of the state of innocence and become guilty. The state
'of innocence is that state in which there is nothing good
•and nothing- evil for man : it is the condition of animals,
276 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
of unconsciousness, where man does not know either good
or evil, where that which he desires is not determined as
either the one or the other ; for if he has no knowledge
of evil, he has no knowledge of good either.
The state of man is the state of imputation, of liability
to imputation. Guilt is in the general sense imputation.
By guilt we usually understand that a man has done
evil ; the term is taken in its evil sense. Guilt in the
general sense, however, means that man may have some-
thing attributed or imputed to him, that what is done is
his act of knowledge and of will.
The truth is that that original natural unity in its
form as existence is not a state of innocence, but rather
of barbarism, of passion, of savagery or wildness, in fact.
Animals are not good, nor are they evil ; but man in an
animal condition is wild, is evil, is as he ought not to be.
As he is by nature, he is as he ought not to be ; what, on
the contrary, he is, he must be by means of Spirit, by the
knowing and willing of that which is right. This prin-
ciple, that if man is in accordance with nature only, he
is not as he ought to be, has been expressed by saying
that man is evil by nature.
It is implied by this that man ought to contemplate
himself as he is, so far as he merely lives in accordance
with nature and follows his heart, that is to say, follows
what merely springs up spontaneously.
We find in the Bible a well-known conception, called
in an abstract fashion the Fall, and expressed in an out-
ward and mythical shape. This idea is a very profound
one, and represents what is not merely a kind of accidental
history, but rather the everlasting necessary history of
mankind.
If the Idea, that which has an absolute essential
existence, be represented in a mythical way, in the form
of an occurrence, inconsistency is unavoidable, and thus
it could not fail to be the case that this representation too
should have elements of inconsistency in it. The Idea
DEFINITE RELIGION 277
in its living form can be grasped and presented by thought
alone.
That representation, then, is not without an element
of inconsistency, but the essential outlines of the Idea are
contained in it, namely, that man, since he is implicitly
this unity, and because he is Spirit, comes out of the
natural, out of this Potentiality into differentiation, and
that the act of judgment, the judicial trial in reference to
himself and the natural, must come in.
It is thus that he comes to know of God and of good-
ness. If he has a knowledge of them, he has them as
the object of his consciousness ; if he has them as the
object of his consciousness, then the individual distin-
guishes himself from them.
Consciousness contains a double element within itself,
namely, this division or dualism. Now it is true that it
is sometimes said that this ought not to have been. But
it is involved in the conception of man that he should
reach rational knowledge, or, in other words, it is the
very nature of Spirit to become that consciousness. In
so far as the division and reflection represent freedom,
implying that man has a choice between the two sides of
the antithesis, or stands as lord over Good and Evil, we
have a point of view that ought not to exist, that must
be absorbed in something higher. It is not, however, one
which should not make its appearance at all, the truth
rather being that this standpoint of dualism, in conformity
with its own nature, terminates in reconciliation. And
both aspects are included iii the narrative, namely, that
reflection, consciousness, freedom, contain evil, wickedness
within themselves — that which ought not to be — but
that they likewise contain the principle, the source of
healing, namely, freedom.
The one aspect of the truth, namely, that the stand-
point of reflection is riot to be permanent, is directly im
plied in the statement that a crime has been committed,
denoting something which is not to be, not to remain,
278 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Thus it is said that the serpent beguiled man with its lies.
The pride of freedom is here the attitude which ought
not to be.
The other side, namely, that that severance or division
is to exist, in so far as it contains the •well-spring of his
healing, is expressed in the words of God : " Behold !
Adam is become as one of us." It is thus not only no
lie of the serpent's, but, as a matter of fact, God Himself
corroborates it. This, however, is usually overlooked, and
not mentioned at all.
We may therefore say that it is the everlasting history
of the freedom of man that he should come out of this
state of dulness or torpor in which he is in his earliest
years ; that he should come, in fact, to the light of con-
sciousness ; or, to put it more precisely, that both good
and evil should exist for him.
If we draw out what is actually implied in this repre-
sentation, we find it to be the very same as what is con-
tained in the Idea, namely, that man, Spirit, reaches the
state of reconciliation, or, to put it superficially, that he
becomes good, fulfils his destiny. For the attainment of
this reconciliation, this standpoint of consciousness, of
reflection, of division or dualism, is just as necessary as
the abandonment of it.
That in this state man has had the highest knowledge
of nature and of God, has occupied the highest stand-
point of philosophical knowledge, is an absurd idea,
which, moreover, proves itself historically to be wholly
unfounded.
It is imagined that this natural unity is the true atti-
tude of man in religion. Yet he must have already
been struck by the circumstance that this Paradise, this
age of Saturn, is represented as something that is lost.
This alone is sufficient to indicate that such an idea does
not contain the Truth, for in divine history there is no
past, and no contingency. If the existing Paradise has
been lost, in whatever way this may have happened, it is
DEFINITE RELIGION 279
something accidental, something arbitrary, which must
haye come into the divine life from the outside. That
this Paradise is lost proves that it is not absolutely essen-
tial as a state. The truly Divine, that which is in con-
formity witli its essential nature, is not capable of being
lost, is everlasting, and by its very nature abiding. This
loss of Paradise must rather be considered as a divine
necessity, and as included in the necessity that this state
should cease ; that imagined Paradise sinks to the level of
a moment or element in that divine totality — a moment
which is not the absolutely True.
The unity of man with nature is a favourite and
pleasant -sounding expression. Eightly understood, it
means the unity of man with his own nature. But his
true nature is freedom, free spirituality, the thinking
knowledge of the absolutely existing Universal ; and as
thus fixed this unity is no longer a natural, immediate
unity.
Plants are in this condition of unbroken unity. The
spiritual, on the contrary, is not in immediate unity with
its nature ; the truth rather is, that in order to attain to
the return to itself, it has to work its way through its
infinite dualism or division, and to win the state of
accomplished reconciliation by wrestling for it. This is
by no means a state of reconciliation which is there from
the outset, and this true unity is attained to by spirit
only by separation from its immediate character. People
speak of innocent children, and lament that this inno-
cence, this love, this trust get lost ; or they speak of the
innocence of simple peoples, who are, however, rarer than
is generally thought. But this innocence is not the true
position of man ; the morality which is free is not that
of the child ; it stands higher than the innocence just
spoken of, it is self-conscious willing ; and in this the
true attitude is for the first time reached.
In his original dependence upon nature man may either
be gentler or more barbarous. Within a temperate zone —
280 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
and this is the principal agent in deciding the matter —
where nature bestows upon him the means of satisfying
his physical wants, his natural character may remain
gentle, benevolent, and his natural state be marked by
simple needs and conditions, and travellers' descriptions
supply us with pleasant pictures of such a state of things.
But these gentle habits are either linked with barbarous,
horrible customs, and with a state of complete brutishness,
or else such states of simplicity depend upon accidental
circumstances, such as climate or an insular situation.
In every case, however, they are without that universal
self-consciousness and its results which alone constitute
the glory of Spirit. Besides, the observations and de-
scriptions, such as we have, of those reputedly innocent
peoples, have reference merely to the outward good-
humoured conduct of men toward strangers, but do not
enter into the inner phases of their life constituted by
their mutual relations and actual circumstances. Over
against all the opinions and desires of a sickly philan-
thropy, which wishes men back again in that state of
original innocence, stands reality itself, and in essential
contrast to all such views stands the real truth of things,
namely, that such naturalness is not that for which man
is destined. And as to the state of childhood, well, pas-
sion, selfishness, and evil exhibit themselves there too.
But if it be said that man originally found himself in
the centre of nature, saw into the heart of things, and so
forth, we reply that these are mistaken ideas. Two kinds
of elements are to be distinguished in things : first, their
definite character, their quality, their special character in
relation to other things. This is the natural side, the
finite aspect. In this their special character things may
be more familiar to a man in his natural state; he may
have a much more definite knowledge of their particular
qualities than in the civilised state. This is an aspect
which was discussed even in the philosophy of the Middle
Ages, in the Signatura rerum, the external quality through
DEFINITE RELIGION 281
which the special peculiar nature of a thing is indicated,
so that the specific peculiarity of its nature is at once
suggested by this external quality. This may be found
in men in the natural state, and in the animal too this
connection between itself and external quality is much
more marked than in educated men. An animal is
driven by instinct toward that which it requires for its
sustenance ; it consumes only certain things, and leaves
all else untouched. Its relation to things consists in
this, that it places itself over against its other only, not
what is other in general, and does away with the opposi-
tion. Thus it has an instinct for the herbs, by means of
which it is cured when ill. In the same way the deadly
look, the smell of plants are, for the natural man, indica-
tions of their hurtfulness, of their poisonous character.
He is more sensitive to anything harmful than the civi-
lised man is, and the instinct of animals is still surer
than the natural consciousness of man, for this last
impairs animal instinct. It may thus be said that the
natural man sees into the heart of things, apprehends
their specific qualities more correctly. This, however, is
the case only with reference to such specific qualities as
are wholly and exclusively of a finite character. This
instinct sees into the heart of particular things, but into
the source of the life of things generally, into this divine
heart, its glance cannot penetrate. The very same con-
ditions are found in sleep, in somnambulism. Experi-
ence shows that men have a natural consciousness of
this kind. The natural consciousness has become quies-
cent here, and, on the other hand, the inner sense has
awakened, and of this latter it may be said that its
knowledge is far more in identity with the world
and with surrounding things than that of the waking
state. Thence it comes that this condition has been
held to be higher than the healthy one. It can actually
happen that men may have a consciousness of things
which take place a thousand miles away. Among bar-
282 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
barous peoples such knowledge and such presentiments
are to be found in far greater degree than among civilised
nations. Such knowledge, however, is confined to special
or single occurrences and the fate of individuals. The
connection of this definite individual with definite things
which form a part of his consciousness is awakened, but
these are in this case merely single or individual things
and occurrences.
But all this is not yet the true heart of things. That is
only to be found in the Notion, the law, the universal
Idea; it is not the slumber of Spirit which can reveal
the true heart of the world to us. The heart of a planet
is the relation of its distance from the sun, of its orbit,
&c. This is the truly rational element, and is only
attainable for the man of scientific culture, who is free from
bondage to the immediate sensuous experience of sight,
hearing, &c., who has withdrawn his senses into himself,
and approaches the objects before him in the exercise of free
thought. This rationality and this knowledge are a result
only of the mediation of thought, and only occur in the final
and spiritual stage of the existence of man. That instinc-
tive knowledge of nature is explained as sense-perception,
and this is nothing else but immediate consciousness. If
we ask, " What has been perceived ? " it is not sensuous
nature superficially considered (a kind of perception which
may also be attributed to animals), but it is the essential
being of Nature. But the Essence of nature as a system
of laws is nothing else than the Universal. It is nature
looked at in its universality, the system of self-developing
life, and it is this development in its true form^ not nature
in its individual form, in which it exists for sense-per-
ception or pictorial thought. The form of the Natural is
nature as permeated by thought. But thinking is not
something immediate : it begins indeed from data, but
raises itself above the sensuous manifoldness of what is
given, negates the form of particularity, forgets what takes
place under sensuous conditions, and produces the Uni-
DEFINITE RELIGION 283
versal, the True. This is not action of an immediate
kind, but is the work of mediation ; it is the going out
of finitude. It is of no avail to contemplate the heavens,
however piously, innocently, and believingly we may do
it; it is l>y thinking alone that the essential element can
be reached. Accordingly, that assertion of the existence
of a direct sight or vision of things, of an immediate
consciousness, proves itself to be worthless whenever we
make inquiries regarding what ought to be seen. The
knowing of nature in its truth is a mediated knowledge,
and not immediate. It is the same with the will. The
will is good in so far as it wills that which is good, right,
and moral ; but this is something quite other than the
immediate will. This latter is the will which confines
itself to the sphere of particularity and fiuitude, which
wills individual things as such. The Good is, on the.
contrary, the Universal. In order that the will may
attain to the willing of good, a process of mediation by
which it shall have purified itself from such finite willing
must necessarily have taken place. Such purification is
the education and work of mediation, and this cannot be
something immediate and primary. For the rational
knowledge of God this is equally essential. God being
the centre of all truth — the pure truth without any kind
of limitation — in order to arrive at Him, it is still more
imperative that man should have laboured to free himself
from his natural particularity of knowing and of willing.
Moreover, what has been asserted all along applies
specially to the idea that the true consciousness of God
lay in this natural unity of man, in this unity as yet
unbroken by reflection. Spirit exists only for Spirit ;
Spirit in its truth exists for the free Spirit only, and it
is this latter which has learnt to disregard immediate
perception, which abstracts from understanding, from this
reflection, and the like. In theological language, this is
spirit which has come to the knowledge of sin ; in other
words, to the consciousness of the infinite separation of
284 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
its independent being from unity, and which has returned
out of that state of separation to unity and reconcilia-
tion. Natural immediacy is therefore not the^ true form
of religion, but it is rather its lowest and least true
stage.
Ordinary thought sets up an Ideal, and it is necessary
that it should do so. In so doing, it gives expression to
what the True essentially is ; but what is defective here
is that it gives that ideal the character of something per-
taining to the future and the past, thereby rendering it
something which is not present, and so directly giving it
the character of a. finite element. The empirical conscious-
ness is consciousness of the finite ; what exists on its
own account or in and for itself is the inner element.
Reflection distinguishes the one from the other, and with
justice ; but what is defective here is that reflection takes
up an abstract attitude, and yet at the same time requires
that that which has essential existence should manifest
itself and be present in the world of external contingency.
Reason grants their sphere to chance, to arbitrariness,
but knows that the True is still present even in this
thoroughly confused world, as it appears to external
observation and upon the surface. The ideal of a state
is quite sound, only it is not realised. If we conceive
realisation to mean that all things — the general conditions,
the developments of justice, of politics, of practical needs
— are to be commensurate with the Idea, we find that
such a sphere is inadequate to the ideal, and yet the
substantial Idea is nevertheless actual and present within
it. It is not the confused state of existence alone which
constitutes the Present, and this definite existence is not
totality. That by means of which the ideal is deter-
mined may be present, but the actual presence of the
Idea is not as yet recognised, because the Idea is con-
templated with finite consciousness only. It is quite
possible to recognise the substantial kernel of actuality
through this outer rind, but for this severe labour is
DEFINITE RELIGION 285
requisite. In order to gather the rose in the cross of the
Present, \ve must take that cross itself upon us.
Finally, it has been sought to establish the existence
of the Idea historically by going back to a beginning of
the human race marked by the features above indicated.
Among many peoples, remains and indications have been
found which present a contrast to the other elements
which constitute these ideas, or, it may be, we come upon
scientific knowledge which does not seem to be in harmony
with their present state, or which could not have been
parallel with their initial state of culture. The remains
of such a better condition of existence have been made
the basis of conclusions as to a previous state of perfection,
a condition of complete morality. Among the people of
India, for example, great wisdom and varied knowledge
have been found, to which their present state of culture
does not correspond. This and many other similar cir-
cumstances have been looked upon as traces of a better
past. The writings of the monks of the Middle Ages, for
instance, have certainly often not come out of their own
heads, but are remnants of a better past.
At the time of the first discovery of Indian literature,
much was heard of the enormous chronological numbers ;
they seemed to point to a very long duration of time, and
to yield wholly new disclosures. In recent times, how-
ever, it has been found necessary to give up these numbers
entirely, for they express no prosaic conditions whatever
as regards years or recollection of the past. Further, the
Indian peoples are said to possess great astronomical
knowledge ; they have formulae in order to calculate the
eclipses of the sun and moon, which, however, they use in a
wholly mechanical way, without any foreknowledge or in-
vestigation of the presuppositions, or the method and the
formula they employ. Quite lately, however, the astro-
nomical and mathemathical knowledge of the Indian
peoples has been more thoroughly examined into, and an
original state of culture is undoubtedly to be recognised
286 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
in it. In these branches of knowledge they had not,
however, .got nearly so far as the Greeks. The astronomical
formulae are so needlessly involved that they are far be-
hind the methods of the Greeks, and still further behind
.our own'; and true science is precisely that which seeks
to reduce its problems to the simplest elements. Those
complicated formulae point, no doubt, to a praiseworthy
;diligence, to painstaking effort with regard to the problems
-in question, but more than that is not to be found in
them: long-continued observations lead to such know-
ledge. So then this wisdom of the Indian peoples and
the Egyptians has diminished in proportion as further
acquaintance has been made with it, and it still continues
to diminish day by day. The knowledge reached is
either to 'be referred to other sources, or is in itself of
very trifling import. Thus the whole idea of the para-
disiacal beginning has now proved itself to be a poem of
which the Notion is the foundation ; only, this state of
existence has been taken as an immediate one, instead of
its being recognised that it appears for the first time as
mediation.
We now proceed to the closer consideration of the
religion of nature. Its specific character is in a general
sense the'unity of the Natural and Spiritual, in such wise
that the abjective side— God — is posited as something
natural, and consciousness is limited to the determinate-
ness of nature. This natural element is particular exis-
tence, not . nature generally viewed as a whole, as an
organic totality. Ideas such as these would already be
universal ideas, wlrich do not as yet actually appear at
this first stage. Nature, as a whole, is posited as units
or particulars ; classes, species, belong to a further stage
of reflection and of the mediation of thought. This par-
ticular natural object, this heaven, this sun, this animal,
this man — these immediate natural forms of existence are
known as God. The question as to what content is found
,in this idea of God may here be left undetermined to
DEFINITE RELIGION 287
begin with, and at this stage it is something indefinite,
an undefined power or force which cannot as yet be filled
up. But since that indefiniteness is not as yet Spirit in
its true character, the determinations in Spirit in. this form
are contingent, they become true only when it is true
Spirit, which is consciousness, and which posits them.
The first determination, the beginning of the religion of
nature, therefore, is that Spirit is found in an immediate,
particular mode of existence.
The religion of nature from the first contains in it the
spiritual moment or element, and therefore essentially
involves the thought that what is spiritual is 'for man
what is highest. This at once excludes tlie idea that the
religion of nature consists in worshipping natural objects
as God ; that, indeed, plays a part here, but it is a subordi-
nate part. Yet in the very worst religion the Spiritual
is to man as man higher than the Natural : the sun is
not higher for him than what is spiritual.-
The religion of nature, in this its commencement as
immediate religion, means that the Spiritual, a man, even
in the natural mode of existence, ranks as what is( highest.
That religion has not the merely external, physically-
natural element as its object, but the spiritually-natural,
a definite man as this actual present man. This is not
the Idea of man, the Adam Kadmon, the original man,
the Son of God — these are more developed conceptions,
which are present only through thought and for thought ;
and therefore it is not the conception of man in his
universal essentiality, but of this definite actual natural
man ; it is the religion of the Spiritual, but in its con-
dition of externality, naturalness, immediacy. We have
an interest in getting acquainted with the religion of
nature for this reason also, in order that we may even in
it bring the truth before consciousness that God has at all
times been to man something belonging to the Present,
and in order that we may abandon the conception of God
as an abstract Being beyond the present.
.288 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
With reference to this stage of the religion of nature
— which we cannot hold to be worthy of the name of
religion — we must, in order to understand it, forget the
ideas and thoughts which are, it may be, thoroughly
familiar to us, and which even pertain to the superficial
nature of our education and culture.
For natural consciousness, which is what we have here
before us, the prosaic categories, such as cause and effect,
have as yet no value, and natural things are not yet
degraded into external things.
Eeligion has its soil in Spirit only. The spiritual
knows itself as the Power over the natural, and that
nature is not what exists on its own account, or in and
for itself. Those categories just spoken of are the cate-
gories of the understanding, in which nature is conceived
of as the Other of Spirit, and Spirit as the True. It is
from this fundamental determination that religion has its
first beginning.
Immediate religion, on the contrary, is that in which
Spirit is still natural, in which Spirit has not as yet made
the distinction of itself as the universal Power from itself
as what is particular, contingent, transitory, and acci-
dental. This distinction, namely, the antitheses of uni-
versal Spirit as universal Power and essential Being, and
subjective existence with its contingency, has not yet
appeared, and forms the second stage within the religion
of nature.
Here in the primal immediate religion, in this imme-
diacy, man has as yet no higher Power than himself.
There is perhaps a power over contingent life and its
purposes and interests, but this is no essential power in
the sense of being inherently universal, being rather
found in man himself. The Spiritual here exists in a
particular and immediate form.
We may indeed be able to understand and think this
form of religion, for in this case we still have it before
our thoughts as an object. But it is not possible for us
DEFINITE RELIGION 289
to enter into the experience of it, into the feeling of it;
just in the same way as we may perhaps understand a dog
without being.able to enter experimentally into its sensa-
tions. For to do this would mean to fill up entirely the
totality of the subject with a similar particular deter-
mination, so that it would become our determinateness.
Even into religions which approach more nearly to our
modes of thought we cannot enter experimentally in
this way ; they cannot become for a single moment so
much our own particular religion that we should be able,
for example, to worship a Grecian statue of a god, how-
ever beautiful that statue might be. And, moreover, the
stage of immediate religion lies at the farthest distance
from us, since, even in order to make it intelligible to
ourselves, we are obliged to forget all the forms of our
own culture.
We must regard man immediately, as he exists for
himself alone upon the earth, and thus at the very begin-
ning, as wholly without reflection or the power of rising
up to thought. It is wiih the entrance of thought that
more worthy conceptions of God first appear.
Here man' is seen in his immediate personal strength
and passion, in the exercise and attitude of immediate
willing. He asks no theoretical questions yet, such as
" Who made that ? " &c. This separation of objects
into a contingent and an essential side, into that of
causality and that of what is merely dependent, merely
an effect, does not as yet exist for him.
It is the same with the will. This dualism or division
is not as yet present in it, there is as yet no repression
of itself within it. In willing, the theoretical element is
what we call the Universal, right, law, established deter-
minations, boundaries for the subjective will. These are
thoughts, universal forms which belong to thought, to
freedom.
These are distinguished from subjective caprice, pas-
sion, inclination; all this is repressed, dominated by
VOL. I. T
290 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
meaus of this Universal, trained into harmony with this
Universal ; the natural will becomes transformed into a
willing and acting in accordance with such universal
points of view.
Man is therefore still undivided as regards his willing :
here it is the passion and wildness of his will which holds
sway. In the formation of his ideas, likewise, he is pent up
in this undivided state, in this state of torpor and dulness.
This state is only the primal uncivilised reliance of
Spirit upon itself : a certain fear, a consciousness of
negation is indeed present here, but not as yet, however,
the fear of the Lord, that of contingency, rather, of the
powers of nature, which show themselves as mighty
against him.
Fear -of the powers of nature, of the sun, of thunder-
storms, &c., is here not as yet fear which might be called
religious fear, for this has its seat in freedom. The fear
of God is a different fear from the fear of natural forces.
It is said that " fear is the beginning of wisdom : " this
fear cannot present itself in immediate religion. It first
appears in man when he knows himself to be powerless
in his particularity, when his particularity trembles
within him, and when he has accomplished in himself
this abstraction from that particularity in order to exist
as free Spirit. When the natural element in man thus
trembles, he raises himself above it, he renounces it, he
has taken higher ground for himself, and passes over to
thought, to knowledge. It is not, however, fear in this
higher sense only that is not present here, but even the
fear of the powers of nature, so far as it enters at all at
this first stage of the religion of nature, changes round
into its opposite, and becomes magic.
(a.) Magic.
The absolutely primary form of religion, to which we
give the name of magic, consists in this, that the Spiritual
DEFINITE RELIGION 291
is the ruling power over nature. This spiritual element
does not yet exist, however, as Spirit ; it is not yet found
in its universality, but is merely the particular, contin-
•gent, empirical self-consciousness of man, which, although
it is only mere passion, knows itself to be higher in its
self-consciousness than nature — knows that it is a power
ruling over nature.
Two different things are to be remarked here : —
1. In so far as immediate self-consciousness knows
that this power lies within it, that it is the seat of this
power, it at once marks itself off in that state in which it
is such a power from its ordinary condition.
The man who is occupied with ordinary things has,
when he goes about his simple business, particular
objects before him. He then knows that he has to do
with these only, as, for example, in fishing or the chase,
and he limits his energies to these particular objects
alone. But the consciousness of himself as a power
over the universal power of nature, and over the vicissi-
tudes or changes of nature, is something quite different
from the consciousness of that ordinary manner of exis-
tence with its occupations and various activities.
Here the individual knows that he must transplant
himself into a higher state in order to have that power.
This state is a gift belonging to particular persons, who
have to learn by tradition all those means and ways by
which such power can be exercised. A select number
of individuals who are sensible of the presence of this
sombre subjective quality within themselves, repair for
instruction to the older ones.
2. This power is a direct power over nature in general,
and is not to be likened to the indirect power, which we
exercise by means of implements over natural objects in
their separate forms. Such a power as this, which the
educated man exercises over individual natural things,
presupposes that he has receded from this world, that the
world has acquired externality in relation to him, — au
292 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
externality to which he concedes an independence rela-
tively to himself, peculiar qualitative characteristics and
laws ; and it presupposes further that these things in
their qualitative character are relative in regard to each
other, standing in a manifold connection with one another.
This power, which gives the world a free standing in
its qualitative character, is exercised by the educated man
by means of his knowledge of the qualities of things,
that is to say, of things as they are in regard to other
things ; another element thus makes its influence felt
in them, and their weakness at once shows itself. He
learns to know them on that weak side, and operates on
them by so arming himself that he is able to attack them
in their weakness and to compel them to submit to him.
For the accomplishment of this it is necessary that
man should be free in himself. Not until he is himself
free does he allow the external world, other people, and
natural things to exist over against him as free. To the
man who is not free, others are not free either.
On the other hand, any direct influence exercised by
man, by means of his ideas, of his will, presupposes this
mutual unfreedom, since power over external things is
indeed attributed to man as representing what is Spiri-
tual, but not as being a power which acts in a free
manner, and which just on that account does not bring
itself into relation to what is free, and as something
which mediates ; on the contrary, here the power over
nature acts in a direct way. It thus is magic or sorcery.
As regards the external mode in which this idea actu-
ally appears, it is found in a form which implies that
this magic is what is highest in the self-consciousness of
those peoples. But in a subordinate way magic steals
np to higher standpoints too, and insinuates itself into
higher religions, and thus into the popular conception of
witches, although in that form it is recognised as some-
thing which is partly impotent, and partly improper and
godless.
DEFINITE RELIGION 293
There has been an inclination on the part of some (as,
for example, in the Kantian philosophy) to consider prayer
too as magic, because man seeks to make it effectual, not
through mediation, but by starting direct from Spirit.
The distinction here, however, is that man appeals to an
absolute will, for which even the individual or unit is an
object of care, and which can either grant the prayer or
not, and which in so acting is determined by general
purposes of good. Magic, however, in the general sense,
simply amounts to this, — that man has the mastery as
he is in his natural state, as possessed of passions and
desires.
Such is the general character of this primal and
wholly immediate standpoint, namely, that the human
consciousness, any definite human being, is recognised as
the ruling power over nature in virtue of his own will.
The natural has, however, by no means that wide range
which it has in our idea of it. Fur here the greater
part of nature still remains indifferent to man, or is just
as he is accustomed to see it. Everything is stable.
Earthquakes, thunderstorms, floods, animals, which
threaten him with death, enemies, and the like, are
another matter. To defend himself against these re-
course is had to magic.
Such is the oldest mode of religion, the wildest, most
barbarous form. It follows from what has been said that
God is necessarily of a spiritual nature. This is His
fundamental determination. Spiritual existence, in so
far as it is an object for self-consciousness, is already a
further advance, a differentiation of spirituality as that
which is universal and as definite individual empirical
self-consciousness ; it is already a breaking off of the
universal self-consciousness from the empirical spirituality
of self-consciousness. At the beginning this does not
yet exist.
The religion of nature as that of magic, begins from
unfree freedom, so that the single or individual self-con-
294 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
sciousness knows itself as something which is higher
than natural things, and this knowledge is, to begin with,
tmmediated.
By recent travellers, such as Captain Parry, and before
him Captain Ross, this religion has been found among
the Esquimaux, wholly without the element of mediation
and as the crudest consciousness. Among other peoples
a mediation is already present.
Captain Parry says of them : "They are quite unaware
that there is any other world ; they live among rocks,
ice and snow, upon rye, birds and fish, and do not know
that nature exists in any other form. The English had
an Esquimaux with them, who had lived some time in
England, and he served as interpreter. Through him
they obtained some knowledge regarding the people,
and learned that they have not the slightest idea of
Spirit, of a higher existence, of an essential substance
as contrasted with their empirical mode of existence, of
the immortality of the soul, of the everlasting duration
of spirit, of the evil independent existence of the indi-
vidual spirit. They know of no evil spirit, and they
have, it is true, a great veneration for the sun and moon,
but they do not adore them ; they worship no image, no
living creature. On the other hand, they have amongst
them individuals whom they call Angekoks, magicians,
conjurers. Those assert that they have it in their power
to raise a storm, to create a calm, to bring whales near,
&c., and say that they learnt these arts from old Ange-
koks. The people regard them with fear ; in every
family, however, there is at least one. A young Angekok
wished to make the wind rise, and he proceeded to do
it by dint of phrases and gestures. These phrases had
no meaning and were directed toward no Supreme Being
as a medium, but were addressed in an immediate way
to the natural object over which the Angekok wished
to exercise power; he required no aid from any one
whatever. He was told of an omnipresent, all good,
DEFINITE RELIGION 295
invisible Being who had made everything, and he asked
where it lived, and when he was told it was everywhere,
he at once became afraid, and wished to run away. On
being asked where his people would go when they died,
he replied that they would be buried ; a long time ago an
old man had once said that they would go to the moon,
but it was long since any Esquimaux had believed that."
Thus they occupy the lowest stage of spiritual con-
sciousness, but they possess the belief that self-conscious-
ness is a mighty power over naturft, without mediation,
apart from any antithesis between that self-consciousness
and a divine Being.
The English persuaded an Angekok to practise magic ;
this was done by means of dancing, so that he became
frantic with the prodigious amount of exertion ; he fell
into a state of exhaustion, and gave forth phrases and
sounds, his eyes rolling about all the while.
This religion of magic is very prevalent in Africa, as
also among the Mongols and Chinese; here, however,
it is no longer found in the absolute crudeuess of its
first form, but mediations already come in, which owe
their origin to the fact that the Spiritual has begun to
assume an objective form for self-conseiousness.
In its first form this religion is more magic than
religion ; it is in Africa among the negroes that it
prevails most extensively. It was already mentioned
by Herodotus, and in recent times it has been found
existing in -a similar form. Yet the cases are but few
in which such peoples appeal to their power over nature,
for they use very little, and have few requirements, and,
in judging fef their conditions, we must forget the mani-
fold needs which surround us, and the variously com-
plicated modes we have of accomplishing our ends. Our
information regarding the state of these peoples is for
the most part derived from the missionaries of past
times ; the more recent accounts are, on the other hand,
but scanty, and therefore some of the narratives of older
296 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
date have to be received with suspicion, especially ns
missionaries are natural enemies of magic. The general
facts, however, are undoubted, being established by a
great variety of accounts.
The charge of avarice on the part of the priests must
be abandoned here, as in the case of other religions.
Offerings, gifts to the gods, become for the most part
the share of the priests, but still you can only speak of
avarice, and a people are only to be pitied on account
of it, when they lay a great stress upon the possession of
property. But to these peoples possessions are of no
consequence ; they know of no better use to which to put
what they have than to give it away in this manner.
The character of this magic is more accurately shown
by the mode and manner of its exercise. The magician
retires to a hill, describes circles or figures in the sand,
and utters magical words, makes signs toward the sky,
blows toward the wind, sucks in his breath. A mis-
sionary who found himself at the head of a Portuguese
army relates that the negroes who were their allies had
brought a magician of this kind with tnem. A hurricane
rendered his conjuring arts needful, aud, in spite of the
strong opposition of the missionary, they were resorted
to. The magician appeared in a peculiar fantastical
dress, looked up at the sky and the clouds, and afterwards
chewed roots and murmured phrases. As the clouds
drew nearer, he broke out into howls, made signs to the
clouds, and spat towards the sky. The storm continuing
notwithstanding, lie waxed furious, shot arrows at the
sky, threatened it with bad treatment, and thrust at the
clouds with his knife.
The Schamans among the Mongols are very similar
to these magicians. Wearing a fantastic dress, from
which depend figures of metal and wood, they stupefy
themselves with drink, and when in this state declare
what is to happen and prophesy about the future.
In this sphere of magic the main principle is the
DEFINITE RELIGION 297
direct domination of nature by means of the will, of
self-consciousness — in other words, that Spirit is some-
thing of a higher kind than nature. However bad this
magic may look regarded in one aspect, still in another
it is higher than a condition of dependence upon nature
and fear of it.
It is to be observed here that there are negro peoples
who have the belief that no man dies a natural death ; that
nature has not power over him, but that it is he who has
power over nature. These are the Galla and Gaga tribes,
which, as the most savage and most barbarous of con-
querors, have repeatedly descended upon the coasts since
the year 1542, pouring forth from the interior and inun-
dating the whole country. These look upon man in the
strength of his consciousness as too exalted to be capable of
being killed by anything so obscure as the power of nature.
What therefore takes place is, that sick people, in whose
case magic has proved ineffectual, are put to death by
their friends. In the same way the wild tribes of North
America too killed their aged who had reached decrepi-
tude, the meaning of which is unmistakable, namely,
that man is not to perish by means of nature, but is to
have due honour rendered to him at human hands. There
is another people again who have the belief that everything
would go to ruin if their high-priest were to die a natural
death. He is therefore executed as soon as ever he be-
comes ill and weak ; if a high-priest should notwithstand-
ing die of some disease, they believe that some other person
killed him by means of magic, and the magicians have to
ascertain who the murderer was, when he is at once made
away with. On the death of a king in particular, many
persons are killed : according to a missionary of older
days, it is the devil of the king who is slain.
Such, then, is the very first form of religion, which can-
not indeed as yet be properly called religion. To religion
essentially pertains the moment of objectivity, and this
means that spiritual power shows itself as a mode of the
298 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Universal relatively to self-consciousness, for the indivi-
dual, for the particular empirical consciousness. Tins
objectivity is an essential characteristic, on which all
depends. Not until it is present does religion begin, does
a God exist, and even in the lowest condition there is at
least a beginning of it. The mountain, the river, is not in
its character as this particular mass of earth, as this par-
ticular water, the Divine, but as a mode of the existence of
the Divine, of an essential, universal Being. But we do not
yet find this in magic as such. It is the individual con-
sciousness as this particular consciousness, and conse-
quently the very negation of the Universal, which is what
has the power here ; not a god in the magician, but the
magician himself is the conjurer and conqueror of nature.
This is the religion of passion, which is still infinite for
itself, and therefore of sensuous particularity which is cer-
tain of itself. But in the religion of magic there is already
also a distinguishing of the individual empirical conscious-
ness of the person dealing in magic from that person in his
character as representing the Universal. It is owing to
this that out of magic the religion of magic is developed.
(b.) The Objective Characteristics of the Religion of Magic.
With the distinction of the singular and universal in
general, there enters a relation of self-consciousness to the
object, and here mere formal objectifying must be distin-
guished from the true. The former is that the spiritual
Power — God — is known as objective for consciousness ;
absolute objectifying means that God is, that He is known
as existing in and for Himself, in accordance with those
characteristics which essentially belong to Spirit in its
true nature.
What we have to consider in the first place here is
formal objectifying only. The relation here is of a three-
fold kind.
i . Subjective self-consciousness, subjective spirituality,
DEFINITE RELIGION 299
is, and still remains, master and lord — this living force,
this self-conscious power; the ideality of self-conscious-
ness as the force or power is still operative as against
feeble objectivity, aud maintains the supremacy.
2. The subjective self-consciousness of man is con-
ceived of as dependent on the object. Man, as immediate
consciousness, can only conceive himself to be dependent
in an accidental manner ; only by a deviation from his
ordinary state of existence does he reach the condition
of dependence. Amongst simple peoples in a state of
nature, amongst savages, this dependence is of little im-
portance. They have what they want ; what they are
in need of exists for them, grows for them ; they there-
fore do not regard themselves as at all in a condition of
dependence ; their needs are chance needs only. Not
until consciousness is further developed, when man and
nature, losing their immediate validity and positive
character, come to be conceived of as something evil,
something negative, does the dependence of consciousness
come in, in that it shows itself to be negative relatively
to its object or " Other." Not until man is so conceived
of as Essence does the Other — nature — essentially be-
come a mere negative.
3. But this negativity shows itself to be only a point
of transition. Spirituality, too, as well as the natural
will, the empirical, immediate spirit, man, recognises
itself in religion to be essential, comes to see that to
depend upon nature is not its fundamental character-
istic, but to know itself as Spirit, to be free. Although
at the lowest stage this is merely a formal freedom, yet
man has a contempt for dependence, remains self-con-
tained, asserts himself, casts away the merely natural
connection, and subjugates nature to his own power. It
is at another stage that what a later religion says holds
good : " God thunders with His thunder, and yet is not
recognised." God can do something better than merely
thunder ; He can reveal Himself. Spirit does not permit
300
itself to be characterised by a natural phenomenon. The
higher relation is that of free adoration, where man
reveres the ruling power as free, recognises it as Essence,
but not as something which is foreign to his nature.
If, therefore, we consider this objectifying process more
closely, we find it partly consists in this, that self-con-
sciousness maintains itself as the power over natural
things, and partly that iti this objectivity not merely
natural things exist for it, but that a Universal begins to
come into existence in it, towards which it accordingly
assumes the attitude of free adoration.
If, therefore, we consider the process of the objecti-
fying of the Universal as it goes on when still within the
sphere of magic, it will be seen that the consciousness of
truly essential objectivity — though as yet undeveloped —
now begins within it; the consciousness of an essential
universal power begins. Magic is retained, but it is
accompanied by the perception of an independent, essen-
tial objectivity ; what the consciousness which uses magic
knows as the ultimate principle is not itself, but the
universal power or force in things. The two are inter-
mingled, and not until free adoration, as the conscious-
ness of free power, appears, do we emerge from the
sphere of magic, although we still find ourselves within
the region of the religion of nature. Magic has existed
among all peoples and at every period ; with the objecti-
fying process, however, a mediation comes in in its higher
stages, so that Spirit is the higher notion, the power over
it, or the mediating agent with the magic.
Self-consciousness is that relation with the object in
which the former is no longer immediate self-conscious-
ness, that which is satisfied within itself, but finds its
satisfaction in what is other than itself, by the mediation
of an "Other," and through an "Other" as its channel.
The infiniteness of passion shows itself as a finite infi-
nity, since it is restrained by means of reflection within
the bounds of a higher power. Man unlocks his prison-
DEFINITE RELIGION 301
house, and only by the annulling of his particularity does
lie create full satisfaction for himself in his Essence, unite
himself with himself as Essence, and attain to himself by
means of the negative mode of himself.
In mediation, as ic at first exhibits itself to us in an
external form, the mediation takes place, as it were, by
means of an Other which remains external. In magic,
as such, man exerts direct power over nature. Here he
exercises an indirect power, by means of an object, of a
charm.
The moments of mediation, looked at more closely, are
these: — I. The immediate relation here is that the self-
consciousness, as spiritual self-consciousness, knows itself
as the power ruling over natural things. These them-
selves, again, are a power among themselves. This is
already, therefore, a further reflection, and no longer an
immediate relation, where the " I " as a unit confronts
natural things. The next form of universality reached by
reflection is that natural things appear to be within one
another, stand in connection with one another, that the
one is to be known by means of the other, has its mean-
ing as cause and effect, so that, in fact, they are essentially
in a condition of relation. This connection is already a
form of the objectifying of the Universal, for the thing is
thus no longer a unit, it goes out beyond itself, it gives
itself a valid existence in what is other than itself ; the
thing becomes broader in this way. In the first relation
" I " am the ideality of the thing, the power over it ; now,
however, when thus posited objectively, the things are
themselves the power in their mutual relation to one
another ; the one is that which posits the other ideally.
This is the sphere of indirect magic through means, while
the magic first referred to was direct magic.
This is a 1'orm of objectifying which is merely a con-
nection of external things, and means that the subject does
not take to itself the direct power over nature, but only
over the means. This mediated magic is present at all
302 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
times and among all peoples. Sympathetic remedies,
too, belong to this kind of magic. They are a contriv-
ance the object of which is to produce a result in some-
thing quite different ; the subject has the means in its
hand : to produce this result is merely its intention, its
aim. The " I " is the magician, but it conquers the thing
by means of the thing itself. In magic, things show
themselves as ideal. The ideality is thus a characteristic
which belongs to them as things ; it is an objective
quality, which comes into consciousness by means of the
very exercise of magic, and is itself only posited, made
use of. Passion seizes on things in an immediate way.
Now, however, consciousness reflects itself into itself, and
inserts the thing itself as the destroying agent between
itself and the thing, while it thereby shows itself as
stratagem or cunning in not mixing itself up with the
things and their strife. The change which is to be brought
about may in one sense depend upon the nature of the
means employed, but the principal thing is the will of
the subject. This mediated magic is infinitely wide-
spread, and it is difficult to define its limits and determine
what is and what is not included in it. The principle of
magic is that the connection between the means and the
result is not known. Magic exists everywhere where
this connection is merely present without being under-
stood. The same thing holds good, too, of medicines in
hundreds of cases, and all we can really do is to appeal
to experience. The other alternative would be the rational
course, namely, to get to know the nature of the remedy,
and thus to deduce the change which it brings about.
But the art of medicine refuses to adopt the plan of
calculating the result from the nature of the remedy.
'We are simply told that this connection actually exists,
and this is mere experience, which, however, contradicts
itself endlessly. Thus Brown treated with opium, naphtha,
spirit, &c., what was formerly cured by means of remedies
of an entirely opposite nature. It is therefore difficult
DEFINITE RELIGION 303
to state the limits of known and unknown connection.
In so far as we are here in presence of effects produced
by living agents on what is living, and have no longer to
do with the effects produced by what is spiritual on what
is bodily, there are connections present which cannot be
gainsaid, and which yet, so long as the deeper conception
of this relation is unknown, may still appear as inscrut-
able, as magic, or as miracle. Thus in magnetism every-
thing which is usually called connection ceases ; regarded
in the ordinary way, it is an incomprehensible connec-
tion.
If the sphere of mediation in magic be once entered,
the huge gate of superstition is opened, and then every
detail of existence becomes significant, for every circum-
stance has results, has ends ; everything is both mediated
and mediating, every thing governs and is governed : what
a man does depends as to its results upon circumstances ;
what he is, his aims, depend upon certain conditions.
He exists in an external world, amidst a variety of con-
nections of cause and effect, and the individual is only a
ruling force to the extent to which he has power over the
particular forces thus connected. In so far as this con-
nection remains undetermined, and the definite nature
things is still unknown, we float about in a condition
of absolute contingency. Since reflection enters into this
region of relations, it has the belief that things stand to
one another in a relation of reciprocity. This belief is
quite correct, but the defect in it is that it is still abstract,
and consequently the definite special character of action,
the precise mode of action, the exact nature of the con-
nection of things with other things is not as yet present
in it. Such a connection exists, but its real character is
not yet known, and accordingly what is present is the
contingent character, the arbitrariness of the means.
Most people are on one side of their nature in this posi-
tion, and nations occupy this standpoint in a way which
shows that this aspect is for them the fundamental one,
3C4 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the power which rules their wishes, their actual condition,
their mode of existence.
When people act according to an abstract principle,
free scope is given to the element of determination. This
applies to the endless variety of charms. Many nations
use magic in connection with everything they undertake.
Among some a charm is made use of when the founda-
tions of a house are laid, in order that it may be a lucky
dwelling, and may be beyond the reach of any danger.
The particular quarter of the heavens, the direction, is a
matter of importance here. At sowing-time, too, a charm
must be used to secure a happy result. Relations with
other men, love, hatred, peace, war, are brought about by
the use of such means, and the connection of these with
the effects being unknown, either one or other of these
means must be taken. Anything rational is not to be
met with in this sphere, and therefore nothing further
can be said about the matter. It is customary to attri-
bute to all peoples great insight into the way in which
herbs, plants, &c., act in cases of illness and the like. A
true connective relation may exist here, but the con-
nection may just as easily be merely arbitrary. The
understanding gets to be conscious that there is a con-
nection, but its precise character is unknown to under-
standing. It seizes upon the means, and imagination,
guided by a true or a false instinct, supplies the deficiency
in the abstract principle, introduces a defmiteness into
it which is not actually inherent in the nature of the
things themselves.
2. The content of immediate magic in its earliest form
has to do with objects over which man is able to exercise
direct power. This second form, again, is based upon a
relation toward objects which are looked upon rather as
independent, and thus as power, so that they appear to
man as something different from himself, and which is no
longer under his own control. For example, the sun, the
moon, the heavens, the sea, are independent natural things
DEFINITE RELIGION 30;
of this kind. They are forces or powers, individual or
elemental great objects, which seem to man to confront
him in a wholly independent way. If in this sphere
natural consciousness still adheres to the standpoint of
individual passion, it has, properly speaking, no relation
to these objects as parts of universal nature ; it has not
as yet a perception of their universality, and has to do
with units alone. Their course, what they produce, is
uniform, their mode of action is constant. The con-
sciousness, however, which still adheres to the standpoint/
of natural unity, and for which what is constant possesses
no interest, puts itself in relation with them in accord-
ance with its contingent wishes, needs, interests only, or
in so far as their action appears as contingent. From this
point of view the sun and moon interest man only in so
far as they undergo eclipse, and the earth only when
there are earthquakes. The Universal does not exist for
him, does not excite his desires, is without interest for
him. A river only interests him when he wishes to cross
it. Theoretical interest has no existence here, but only
the practical relation due to accidental wants. Thinking
man, witli his higher culture, does not reverence these
objects in their aspect as spiritual universalities, nor does
he look upon them as representing what is essential.
Man does not reverence them in that first sphere either,
because he has not in any way come as yet to the con-
sciousness of the Universal which is in these objects.
At this last standpoint he has not yet arrived at the
universality of all that exists; at the former point of
view natural existence has no longer any validity for
him. But it is in the midst of these two points of view
that the powers of nature make their appearance as a
Universal, and consequently as having the ruling power
in relation to the particular, empirical consciousness.
Such a man may be afraid of them in earthquakes, floods,
or eclipses, and may address prayers or entreaties to them ;
here they appear for the first time as power ; for the rest/
VOL. i. u
306 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
they follow their ordinary course, and then he does not
need to entreat them. But entreaty or supplication of
this kind is a species of conjuring too ; we use the word
to conjure in the sense of entreaty. When a man entreats,
he acknowledges that he is in the power of another. It
is therefore often difficult to entreat or supplicate, because
by that very act I acknowledge the control of the arbi-
trary will of another in reference to myself. But what
is demanded here is that the effect, the entreaty, shall
at the same time be the power exercised over the other.
These two intermingle, the acknowledgment of the supre-
macy of the object, and, on the other hand, the conscious-
ness of my own power, in accordance with which I desire
to exercise supremacy over this object. Thus we see
peoples sacrifice to a river if they wish to cross it, or
bring offerings to the sun if it is eclipsed. They make
use of the power in this way to conjure ; the means are
meant to exert a charm over the power of nature — they
are meant to produce what the subject desires. The
reverence thus shown towards such objects of nature is
wholly ambiguous ; it is not pure reverence, but rever-
ence mixed with magic.
In conjunction with this reverence for natural objects,
it may happen that these are conceived of in a more
essential shape, as Genii; for example, the sun may be
thought of as a genius, or we may have the genius of
rivers, &c. This is a kind of reverence in which man
does not stop short at the particularity of the object ; on
the contrary, it is universality which is before the mind,
and it is this which is reverenced. But while this uni-
versality too is thus conceived of as in a universal shape
and appears as power, man may, notwithstanding, pre-
serve the consciousness of being the power even over these
genii ; their content is poorer, is only that of natural
existences ; it still continues a merely natural one, and
self-consciousness is thus able to know itself as a power
over it.
DEFINITE RELIGION 307
3. The next stage in the objectifying process is
reached when man recognises and finds an independent
power outside of himself in what has life. Life, even
the life force in a tree, and still more in an animal, is
a higher principle than the nature of the sun or of a
river. This is why it has come about that among a very
large number of peoples animals have been reverenced as
divinities. This appears to us as the least worthy form
of worship, but, as a matter of fact, the principle of
life is higher than that of the sun. Animal life is a
more exalted, a truer form of existence than any such
existing natural object, and it is in so far less undignified
to reverence animals as divinities than rivers, stars, &c.
The life of an animal gives token of an active inde-
pendence of subjectivity, and it is that which is the main
point here. It is his self-consciousness which a man
makes objective to himself, and life is the form, the mode
of existence, which is undoubtedly the most nearly re-
lated to the spiritual one. Animals are still worshipped
by many peoples, especially in India and Africa. An
animal has the calm independence, the vitality which
does not throw itself away, which has a preference for
this or for that ; it has accidental arbitrary movement ;
it is not to be understood ; has something secret in its
modes of action, in its expressions ; it is alive, but not
comprehensible as man is to man. This mysteriousness
constitutes the miraculous element for man, so that he
is able to look upon animal life as higher than his own.
Serpents were still reverenced among the Greeks ; from
ancient times they had the prepossession in their favour
of being esteemed as good omens. On the west coast of
Africa a serpent is to be found in every house, and it
is the greatest crime to murder it. On the one hand,
animals are thus held in veneration, and on the other
hand they are, notwithstanding this, subject to the most
capricious treatment in respect of the veneration shown
to them. Negroes use whatever animal comes first to
3o8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
hand as tlieir charm, cast it aside when it does not pro-
duce the desired effect, and take another.
Such is the essential character of animal-worship ; it
exists in so far as man and the spiritual in him have not
yet conceived of themselves in their true essentiality.
The life of man is thus mere free independence.
In this sphere of the appetite of individual self-con-
sciousness, which neither in itself nor outside of itself
recognises universal objective spirituality, that signifi-
cance is not as yet given to the living creature, thus rever-
enced or worshiped, which it acquires later in the idea of
the transmigration of souls. This general conception is
based upon the idea that the spirit of man is of a durable
character, but that for his existence in that duration he
requires corporeal form, and inasmuch as this is not now
a human one, he requires another, and the one most
nearly related is accordingly that of the animal. In
zoolatry, which is bound up with the transmigration of
souls, it is an important and essential moment that the
idea of an indwelling spiritual element combines itself
with this transmuted life, so that it is properly this
which is reverenced. Here in this sphere, where imme-
diate self-consciousness is the fundamental element, it is,
however, life in the general sense only that is reverenced.
This worship, therefore, is of a contingent character, and
connects itself now with this animal, and now with that
other. Almost every unaccomplished desire is the occa-
sion of a fresh change. Moreover, any kind of thing is
to the purpose here, — a manufactured idol, a hill, a tree,
&c. Just as children feel the impulse to play, and
mankind the impulse to adorn themselves, there is an
impulse here too to have something before one as an
independent and powerful object, and to have the con-
sciousness of an arbitrary combination which may be
just as easily broken up again, as the more precise
character of the object appears at first to be of no con-
sequence.
• DEFINITE RELIGION 309
It is in this way that fetish - worship originates.
" Fetish " is a corruption of a Portuguese word, and has
the same meaning as " idol." Fetish may mean anything,
any carved work, a piece of wood, an animal, a river, a
tree, &c. Similarly there are fetishes for whole peoples,
and fetishes for any special individual.
The negroes have a great variety of idols, natural
objects which they make into their fetishes. The first
stone which comes to hand, locusts, &c., these are their
Lares, from which they expect to derive good fortune.
This is thus an unknown indefinite power, which they
have themselves created in an immediate way. Accord-
ingly, if anything unpleasant befalls them, and they do
not find the fetish serviceable, they make away with it
and choose another. A tree, a river, a lion, a tiger are
common national fetishes. If any misfortune occurs,
such as floods or war, they change their god. The
fetish is subject to being changed, and sinks to a means
of procuring something for the individual. The Nile of
the Egyptians, on the contrary, is quite different ; it is
something Divine which they have in common ; it is their
substantial, unchangeable ruling power, upon which their
entire existence depends.
The ultimate form in which independent spirituality is
embodied is essentially man himself — a living, independent
form of existence which is spiritual. Reverence has here
its essential object ; and in regard to objectivity the prin-
ciple makes its appearance that it is not every individual
chance consciousness which has power to rule over nature,
but that there are some few particular ruling persons
who are looked up to and reverenced as embodying
spirituality. In the existing self-consciousness which
still has power, it is the will, it is knowledge in com-
parison with and in actual relation to others which is
what rules and which shows itself as essentially necessary
relatively to the Other, and is a central point among
many. Here, therefore, a spiritual power makes its
3io THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
appearance, which is to be looked upon as objective, and
thus the principle appears according to which it is to be
a case of one or some as exclusive in reference to the
rest. Thus one man is a magician, or some men are
magicians ; they are looked upon as the highest power
which is actually present. These are usually princes,
and thus, for instance, the Emperor of China is the
individual having dominion over men, and at the same
time over nature and natural things. Since it is thus a
self-consciousness which is reverenced, a distinction at
once makes itself apparent here between what an indi-
vidual is in his essential nature and what he is from the
point of view of his external existence. In this latter
aspect the individual is a man like other men, but the
essential moment or element is spirituality in general ;
this being for self or independent in contrast to the
external contingent mode of existence. A distinction
begins to appear here which is of a higher character, as
as we shall see later on, and which comes into promi-
nence in the Lamas. What first takes place is that a
distinction is made between individuals as such and as
universal powers. This universal spiritual power, con-
ceived as existing in its own right, supplies the idea of
Genius, of a god who has himself again a sensuous shape
in the idea formed of him, and the actually living indi-
vidual is then the priest of such an idol. At this stand-
point, however, the priest and the god often become
synonymous. His inner life may become hypostatised ;
here, however, the essential power of the spiritual and
the immediate existence are not as yet separated from
one another, and thus this spiritual power is really merely
a superficial idea. The priest, the magician, is the prin-
cipal person, so that they are actually represented some-
times as separate, but if the god comes to express himself
outwardly, becomes strong, decides, &c., he only does this
as a definite real human being ; this reality supplies the
god with his strength. These priests sometimes have
DEFINITE RELIGION 311
actual sovereigns over them too ; if the priest and prince
are distinguished from one another, the man is on the
one hand reverenced as God, and on the other compelled
to do what others require of him. The negroes, wio
have magicians who are not at the same time sovereigns,
bind and beat them until they are obedient, if they refuse
to use their magical charms or are not disposed to do so.
We shall see how the idea runs through various
religions that the Spiritual has its presence in man, and
that human consciousness is essentially the presence of
Spirit. This idea necessarily belongs to the oldest class
of principles. It is present in the Christian religion too,
but in a higher form, and, as it were, transfigured. The
Christian religion interprets and transfigures it.
In the case of a human being, the mode in which
objectivity is attained is of a twofold kind. The first is
that in which he takes up a position of exclusiveness as
against what is other than himself ; the second is the
natural mode, namely, the stripping off of what is temporal
from him ; this natural mode is death. Death takes
away what is temporal, what is transitory in man, but it
has no power or control over that which he essentially is.
That man actually has such a region within himself, since
he exists in his own right, cannot at this standpoint as
yet come into consciousness ; here self-consciousness is
not as yet in possession of the eternal meaning of its
spirit. The stripping off referred to has to do only with
the individual's sensuous existence ; the whole remaining
contingent mode of his particularity, of his sensuous
presence is, on the other hand, retained by him. It is
removed into the region of ideas, and is retained there.
This, however, has not the form of truth, but what is thus
retained for the individual has still the form of his wholly
sensuous existence. Reverence for the dead is there-
fore still quite feeble, and its content is of an accidental
character. The dead are a power, but a feeble power.
. The lasting part of the dead, a part which is at the
312
same time conspicuously material, what we may call the
immortal material part, is represented by the bones.
Among many peoples, therefore, the bones of the dead are
held in reverence, and are used as instruments of magic.
"We may in this connection be reminded of relics, and
it is the fact that on the one hand missionaries are
zealous in opposing this veneration for bones, while on
the other hand they ascribe a greater power to their own
religion. Thus a monk relates that the negroes have
bandages which are prepared with human blood by a
magical process, and to which is attributed the power of
enabling a man to hold his ground against wild beasts.
He had often observed that men provided with such
bandages had been torn by animals, from which those
upon whom he had hung relics had always remained
protected.
As representing this power, the dead therefore demand
veneration, and this consists in nothing beyond the
bestowal of a certain care upon them, and in providing
them with food and drink. Most ancient peoples buried
food with the dead. Accordingly the idea of what is
true, lasting, enduring, is of a very inferior kind. It is
also supposed that the dead return to the present world,
or it may be they are thought of partly as a power which
will avenge neglect of care, partly as called up by magic,
through the power of the magician, of the actual self-
consciousness, and consequently as being subject to this
latter. A few examples will illustrate this.
The Capuchin monk Cavazzi (Histor. Beschreibung d.
drei Kbniyr. Congo u. s. w., Miinchcn, 1694), who re-
mained for a considerable time in the neighbourhood of
the Congo, relates a great deal about these magicians,
who are named Singhilli. They are held in great repute
by the people, and call them together whenever it pleases
them to do so. They always do this from time to time,
and state that they are impelled to it by this or that
dead person. The tribe must present itself, each man
DEFINITE RELIGION 313
provided with a knife, the magician himself makes his
appearance carried in a net, decked with precious stones,
feathers, &c. • The assembled people receive him with
singing, dancing, and shouts of joy, which are accom-
panied by a barbaric, deafening, hideous kind of music,
which is supposed to occasion the entrance of the spirit
which has passed away, into the Singhilli ; he himself
entreats the spirit to enter into him. This accomplished,
he rises and gesticulates quite after the manner of one
possessed, tears his garments, rolls his eyes, bites and
scratches himself ; while doing so, he expresses the dead
man's desires, and replies to the questions of those who
inquire of him about their own affairs. The speaking
dead threatens the survivors with distress and misery,
wishes them all kinds of mishaps, inveighs against the
ingratitude of his blood-relations in having given him
no human blood. Cavazzi says, " The working of demo-
niacal fury shows itself in him, and he yells in a frightful
manner, takes the blood by force which is not rendered
to him, seizes a knife, thrusts it into some one's breast,
cleaves heads, rips up bellies, and drinks the blood which
streams forth. He rends the bodies and divides the flesh
among those present, who devour it without remorse,
although it may be that of their nearest relatives ; they
know beforehand that this is how the thing will end, but
go notwithstanding to the gathering with the greatest
rejoicing.
" The Gagas imagine that the dead feel hunger and thirst.
If any one becomes ill, or especially if he has visions or
sees apparitions and dreams, he sends for a Singhilli and
questions him. The latter inquires into all the circum-
stances, and the result is that the apparition proves to be
that of one of his deceased relations who is present there,
and he is told that he must go to another Singhilli in
order to have it driven away, for each Singhilli has his
own special business. This last now conducts him to
the grave of the person who appeared to him, or who is
314 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the cause of the illness. There the dead man is con-^
j tired, abused, threatened, until he enters into the Sing-
hilli and discloses what he desires in order to be recon-
ciled. This is the course of procedure when he has been
dead for a long time ; if he has only recently been buried,
the body is dug up, the head cut off and laid open ; the
moisture which flows from it must be in part consumed
in food by the sick person, and of part of it plasters are
made which are laid upon him.
" The difficulties are greater when the dead has had no
burial, but has been devoured by friend, enemy, or wild
beast. The Singhilli then sets about making incanta-
tions, and afterwards gives out that the spirit has entered
into the body of a monkey, a bird, &c., and manages to
effect the capture of the animal or bird. The latter is
then killed, and the sick person consumes it, and in con-
sequence of this the spirit loses all right to be anything."
It is clear from the above that in so far as it is a
question of duration, no absolute, free, independent power
is conceded to the spirit.
It is as dead that the man is represented in this state
of duration, as having had his empirical external exist-
ence stripped off him. But his wholly contingent nature
still remains to him in this sphere ; the objectifying has
still reference entirely to the external mode of existence,
is still wholly formal. It is not as yet the Essential
which is regarded as existent, and what is left behind is
still the man's contingent nature. The duration itself
which is given to the dead is a superficial quality ; it is
not his transfiguration. He continues to be contingent
existence, in the power, in the hands of the living self-
consciousness, of the magician, so that the latter may
even cause him to die over again, and therefore to die
a second time.
The idea of immortality hangs together with the idea
of God. It always corresponds, in short, with the stage
at which the metaphysical conception of God has arrived.
DEFINITE RELIGION 315
The more the power of spirituality is conceived of in
accordance with its content in an eternal form, the
worthier is the idea of God, as well as the idea of the
spirit of the human individual and of the immortality
of the spirit.
However weak, however powerless men appear here,
they appear just the same among the Greeks and in
Homer. In the scene of Odysseus at the Styx we see
how he calls forth the dead and slays a black goat ; by
the help of blood only are the shades able to acquire
memory and speech ; they are . eager for blood, so that
vitality may enter into them : Odysseus permits some to
drink, and holds the rest back with his sword.
' When the idea of the spirit of man is of this material
character, the idea of what the ruling power is in its
essential nature is equally material.
The example already quoted at once shows us the
little value man, as an individual, has for those at this
standpoint. This contempt for man, this making light
of man by others, is confessedly present also among the
negroes too, in the form of the condition of slavery, which
is quite universal among them. Prisoners either become
slaves or are slaughtered. With the idea of immortality
the value of life increases ; one might suppose the reverse
would take place, and that life would then have less
value. On the one hand, such is actually the case too,
but, on the other, the right of the individual to life at
once becomes so much the greater, and the right becomes
for the first time great when man is recognised as free
implicitly or in himself, in his own right. Both deter-
minations, that of subjective finite independent being and
that of absolute power, which is afterwards to appear
definitely as absolute Spirit, are connected in the very
closest manner.
On this account, too, one might suppose that man,
since he is of so much value as being this power, would
be held in great reverence here, and would have the
316 . THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
feeling of his dignity. But, on the contrary, man has
here complete worthlessness ; for man does not possess
dignity through what he is as immediate will, but only
in virtue of having knowledge of something which exists
in-and-for-itself, and of something substantial, and only
because he subjects his natural will to this, and brings
it into accordance with it. Only by the annulling of
natural unruliness, and through the knowledge that a
Universal that exists in-and-for-itself is the True, does
he acquire a dignity, and then only does life itself too
become worth something.
(c.) Worship or C.ultus in the Religion of Magic.
In the sphere of magic, where the spiritual element is
known as existing iii the particular self-consciousness
only, there can be no question of worship as free rever-
ence for a spiritual being, for what has an absolute
objective existence of its own. Here this relation is
rather the exercise of lordship over nature, the rule of
some few self-conscious beings over the rest — the sway
of the magician over those who do not know. The con-
dition of this lordship is sensuous stupor, in which the
particular will is forgotten, extinguished, and the abstract
sensuous consciousness is intensified to the utmost degree.
The means used for producing this stupor are dancing,
music, shouting, gorging, even sexual intercourse ; and it
is these which at a higher level become cultus.
The way out of this first form of religion is that Spirit
gets to be purified from externality, from sensuous imme-
diacy, and attains to the idea of Spirit as Spirit in ordi-
nary conception and in thought.
The important element in the advance is just the
objectifying of Spirit — that is to say, the fact that Spirit
becomes purely objective, and comes to have the significa-
tion of Universal Spirit.
DEFINITE RELIGION 317
u.
THE DIVISION OF CONSCIOUSNESS WITHIN ITSELF.
The first step in advance is when consciousness of a
substantial Power comes in, and of the powerlessness of
the immediate will. Inasmuch as God is here known as
the Absolute Power, this is not as yet the religion of free-
dom ; for though man does actually rise, by the coming
in of that consciousness, above himself, and though the
essential differentiation of Spirit is carried into effect,
still since this lofty Being is known as power, and is
not as yet further characterised, the Particular is merely
something accidental, is a mere negative or nullity.
Everything subsists by means of this power, or, in other
words, it is itself the subsistence of everything, so that
the freedom of a self-dependent existence is riot as yet
recognised. This is Pantheism.
This power, which is something reached by thought,
is not as yet known as such, as implicitly spiritual.
Since it must now have a spiritual mode of existence,
but has not' as yet in itself freedom in its own right, it
has the moment of spirituality again merely in a single
human being, who is known as this power.
In the exaltation of spirit with which we have to do
here, the point of departure is the finite, the contingent.
This is defined as the negative, and the universal self-
existent Essence as that in which and by means of which
this finite is something negative, something posited.
Substance, on the contrary, is the not-posited, the self-
existent, the power in relation to the finite.
Now, the consciousness which rises up, rises up in
its character as thought, but without having a conscious-
ness regarding this universal thought, without expressing
it in the form of thought. The rising up is, however, in
the first place, an upward movement only. The other
318 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
movement is the converse one, namely, that this neces-
sary element has returned to the finite. In the first
movement the finite forgets itself. The second is the
relation of Substance to the finite. God being only
determined here as the Substance of the finite and the
power over it, He Himself is still undetermined. He is
not yet known as determined within Himself for Himself.
He is not yet known as Spirit.
This is the general foundation of several definite forms
of religion, which are progressive efforts to grasp Sub-
stance as self-determining.
1. To begin with, in the religion of China, for example,
Substance is known as the simple foundation, and is
thus immediately present in the finite, the contingent.
What occasions the progressive movement of con-
sciousness is that Spirit, even although Substance is not
yet conceived of as Spirit, is nevertheless the Truth which
potentially lies at the foundation of all the phenomena of
consciousness, so that even at this stage nothing can be
wanting of what pertains to the conception of Spirit.
Therefore here too Substance will take on the specific
character of a subject, but the question is as to how it
does this. Here, accordingly, the characteristics of Spirit
which are potentially existent present themselves in an
external shape. Complete determinateness, the ulti-
mate reach of definite form, this final culmination of
the unit of independent being, is now posited in an ex-
ternal fashion, so that a present human being is known
as the universal Power.
This consciousness already shows itself in the Chinese
religion, where the Emperor at all events represents what
gives effect to the power.
2. In the religion of India Substance is known as
abstract unity, no longer as a mere foundation, and this
abstract unity is more nearly akin to Spirit, since Spirit
as " I" is itself this abstract unity. Here, then, man
rises up, and in lifting himself up to his inner abstract
DEFINITE RELIGION 319
unity, to the unity of Substance, identifies himself with
it, and thus gives it existence. Some by nature share in
the existence of this unity ; others have it in their power
to rise to the attainment of it.
The unity which is here the ruling power makes, it is
true, an attempt to unfold itself. The true unfolding
and the negativity of the combination of differences would
be Spirit, which determines itself within itself, and in its
subjectivity manifests itself to itself. This subjectivity
of Spirit would give it a content, which would be worthy
of it, and which would itself also have a spiritual nature.
Here, however, the characteristic of naturalness still re-
mains, inasmuch as an advance is made to differentiation
and unfolding only, and the moments or elements remain
in an isolated condition alongside of each other. Here
the unfolding necessary in the conception of Spirit is
consequently itself devoid of Spirit. Accordingly, in the
Religion of Nature, one is sometimes at a loss to find
Spirit unfolded. This is the case, for instance, with the
idea of the Incarnation, the Trinity, in the religion of
India. Moments or elements will indeed be found which
pertain to Spirit, but these are so disposed that they at
the same time do not pertain to it. The determinations
or characteristics are isolated, and present themselves as
mutually exclusive. Thus the triad in Indian religion
does not become Trinity, for absolute Spirit alone is the
power which rules over its moments.
The general conception of the religion of nature pre-
sents great difficulties in this respect ; it is everywhere
inconsistent, and is inherently contradictory. Thus, on
the one hand, the spiritual, which is essentially free, is
posited, made dependent on something else ; and then,
on the other, that element is represented in the deter-
minateness belonging to nature, in a condition of indivi-
duality, with a content which has fixed particularity, and
which is therefore wholly inadequate to Spirit, since the
latter is true Spirit only as free Spirit.
320 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
3. In the last form which belongs to this stage of the
inner division of consciousness, the concrete embodiment
and presence of Substance exists and lives in one indivi-
dual, and the formless unfolding of unity which was
peculiar to the preceding form is at least in so far done
away with in that it is nullified and reduced to a volatile
state. This is Lamaism or Buddhism.
Before proceeding to consider more closely the historical
existence of this religion, we have to look at the general
definite character of this entire stage and the metaphysical
notion or conception of it. To put it more accurately,
what is to be defined is the notion or conception of the
exaltation of Spirit and the relation of Substance to the
Finite.
The Metaphysical Notion or Conception.
In the first place, we must consider the general scope
of the metaphysical notion, and explain what is to be
understood by it.
Here we have a wholly concrete content, and the
metaphysico-logical notion therefore appears to lie behind
us, just because we find ourselves in the region of the
absolutely concrete. The content is Spirit, and a process
of the unfolding or development which Spirit is, is the
content of the whole Philosophy of Religion. The diffe-
rent stages at which we find Spirit give the different reli-
gions. Now this differentiation of determinateness, since
it constitutes the different stages, shows itself as external
form which has Spirit as its foundation, the differences of
Spirit being posited within it in a definite form. And
this form, it is certain, is universal logical form. Form
is therefore the Abstract. At the same time, however,
such determinateness is not merely this external form,
but, as being the logical element, is what is innermost in
the determining Spirit. It unites both in itself; it is at
once, the inmost element and external form. This is the
very nature of the notion, namely, to be the essential
DEFINITE RELIGION 321
element, and the Essence of appearance, of the distinction
of form. This logical determinateness is on the one hand
concrete as Spirit, and this whole is the simple Substan-
tiality of Spirit; but on the other it is also the external
form belonging to Spirit, by means of which it is diffe-
rentiated from what is other than itself. That inmost
specific character, which is the content of each stage in
accordance with its substantial nature, is thus at the same
time external form. It may well be that when another
object, a natural object, is under consideration, the logical
element is taken as constituting its inner nature. With
so concrete a form of existence as the finite Spirit, this
is accordingly the case as well. In the philosophy of
nature and in the philosophy of Spirit this logical form
cannot be brought into special prominence. In such a
content as nature and Spirit it exists in a finite mode,
and in such a sphere the exposition of the logical element
may be represented as a system of conclusions or syllo-
gisms, of mediations. Without this long explanation,
which, however, is alone adequate to our purpose, the
statement and consideration of the simple determinate-
ness of the notion would remain unsatisfactory. But
since in these spheres the logical qualities, as being the
substantial basis, are veiled or concealed, and are not seen
in their simple existence, in which they are adequate to
thought, it is not so needful to bring them into pro-
minence on their own account, while in religion Spirit
allows the logical element to come forward in a more
definite form. Here, it is precisely this element which
has withdrawn itself into its simple shape, and can there-
fore here be more easily considered, and this is the
excuse we have to offer should it surprise any one that
it is made the subject of special consideration.
In one respect, therefore, we are in a position to assume
the existence of the element referred to, but in another
we can discuss it on account of its simplicity, since it
possesses interest in virtue of the fact of its having been
VOL. I. X
3 22 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
formerly treated of in natural theology, and as having, in-
fact, its place in theology as an element in the philo-
sophical knowledge of God. It has, since the time of the
Kantian philosophy, been cast aside as mean, bad, un-
worthy of notice, and for this reason it requires a justi-
fication.
Determination of the Notion, of Notion in general, is
in its real character by no means something in a state of
repose, but is something which moves itself, is essentially
a state of activity, and is for this very reason mediation,
as thinking is an activity, a mediation within itself, and
thus also contains the definite thought of mediation within
itself. The proofs of the existence of God are likewise
mediation, the notion is to be represented by a mediation.
Thus the same thing is found in both. In the proofs of
the existence of God, however, the mediation takes a form
which suggests that it has been contrived for the behoof
of cognition or reasoned knowledge, in order that for this
latter a fixed view or insight might grow up. It is to be
proved to me ; it is this, accordingly, which constitutes
the main interest of my cognition. After what has been
said about the nature of the notion, it is clear that we
must not so conceive of mediation, nor think of it as
subjective, but get to see that what is true is an objective
relation of God within Himself, of His logical element
within Himself, and only when and in so far as mediation
is so conceived of is it a necessary moment. The proofs of
the existence of God must show themselves as a necessary
moment of the notion itself, as an advancing movement,
as an activity of the notion itself.
The first form of this activity derives its character from
the fact that here we are still entirely at the first stage,
which we have described as the immediate one, the stage of
immediate unity. It results from this determination of im-
mediateness that we have to do here with wholly abstract
determinations, for immediate and abstract are the same.
The immediate is Being, and so in thought, too, the
DEFINITE RELIGION- 323.
immediate is the abstract which has not as yet buried
itself in itself, and has not as yet filled itself up by means
of further reflection, has not yet made itself concrete. If we
thus divest both these sides — Spirit as object generally,
and nature, the mode of its reality — of what is concrete
in the content, and hold fast simply the simple thought-
determinateness, we have in this way an abstract deter-
mination of God and of the finite. These two sides are
now opposed as infinite and finite — the one as pure Being,
the other as determinate Being — as substantial and acci-
dental, as universal and as particular. These determina-
tions, it is true, are intrinsically different in some degree ;
thus the Universal is undoubtedly in itself much more con-
crete than Substance is; here, however, we can look at Sub-
stance as undeveloped, and it is then of no consequence
which form we take in order to consider it more closely.
Its relation to what confronts it is the essential thing.
This relation in which they are placed with regard to
one another is present in their own nature quite as much
as in religion, and is to be taken up in the first place in
that aspect of it. In bringing himself into relation to
the Infinite, man starts from the finite as his point of
departure. Having the world before him, he has a feel-
ing of the unattainable in it, for feeling, too, feels what
is thought of, or what is thinkable. It does not suffice
for what is ultimate, and he finds the world as an
aggregate of finite things. In like manner, man knows
himself to be something contingent, transient, and in this
feeling he goes beyond the Particular and rises up to the
Universal, to the One, which exists on its own account,
to an Essence to which this contingency and conditioned
character does not pertain, which rather is simply the1
Substance in contrast to this accidental element, and the '
Power owing to which this contingency is and is not.
Now, religion just means that man seeks the basis of
his want of self-dependence : not until he is in the pre-
sence of the Infinite does he find tranquillity. If we-
324 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
speak thus abstractly of religion, we already have the
essential relation here, the transition from the finite to
the Infinite. This transition is of such a kind that it
is essentially involved in the nature of these determina-
tions, in other words, in the Notion, and it may be
observed here that it is possible to stop short at this de-
termination. Taken in a strict sense, this transition may
be conceived of in two different ways. We may regard it
first as a transition from the finite to the Infinite as a
" Beyond," which is a more modern way of looking at it.
Then, secondly, we may so conceive of it that the unity of
the two is held fast, while the finite maintains itself in
the Infinite. In the Keligiou of Nature we find that any
particular, immediate existence whatever, whether natural
or spiritual, becomes a finite infinitely extended beyond
its own range, and in the limited sense-perception of
such an object the infinite Essence, free substantiality, is
at the same time known. What, in fact, is here involved
is that in the finite thing, the sun or the animal, and the
like, infinitude is at the same time perceived, and that
in the external manifoldness of the finite object we at
the same time behold the inner infinite unity, divine
substantiality. To consciousness the Infinite itself here
becomes so really present in finite existence, the God
becomes so present to it in this particularised existence,
that this existence is not distinct from God, but rather is
the mode in which God exists, implying that natural ex-
istence is preserved in immediate unity with Substance.
This advance from the finite to the Infinite is not only
a fact, a matter of history in religion, but it is necessi-
tated by the notion involved in the very nature of such a
determination itself. This transition is thought itself;
this means nothing else than that we know the Infinite
in the finite, the universal in the particular. The con-
sciousness of the universal, of the Infinite, is thought, and
as this it is intrinsically mediation, a going forth — in fact,
the abrogation and absorption of the external, of the parti-
DEFINITE RELIGION 325
cular. Such is the nature of thought generally. We
think of an object ; in doing so, we come to have its law,
its essence, its universal element before us. It is think-
ing man and he alone who has religion ; an animal has
none, because it does not think. Accordingly we should
have to show in reference to such a determination of the
finite, the particular, the accidental, that it is the finite,
&c., which translates itself into the Infinite, &c., which
cannot remain as finite, which makes itself infinite, and
must in accordance with its' Substance return into the
Infinite. This determination belongs entirely to the
logical consideration of the problem.
The exaltation or rising up of Spirit is not tied down
to making the contingency of the world its point of de-
parture in order to arrive at the necessity of the Essence
which exists in its own right : we may, on the contrary, de-
termine the world in yet another way. Necessity is the
final category of Being and Essence, therefore many cate-
gories precede it. The world may be a Many, a mani-
fold. The truth of it is then the One. Just as we pass
from the many to the One, from the finite to the Infinite,
so too the transition may be made from Being in general
to Essence.
The process of transition from the finite to the Infinite,
from, the accidental to the substantial, and so on, belongs
to the active operation of thought in consciousness, and
is the inherent nature of these characteristics themselves,
— that precisely which they truly are. The finite is not
the Absolute ; on the contrary, it belongs to its very
nature to pass away and become infinite ; it belongs
to the very nature of the particular to return into the
universal, and to that of the accidental simply to return
into Substance. This transition is in so far mediation as
it is movement from the initial immediate definite state
into its Other, into the Infinite, the Universal ; and Sub-
stance is clearly not something immediate, but something
which comes into being by means of this transition,
326 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
something self-positing. That such is the true nature of
these determinations themselves is demonstrated in logic ;
and it is essential to hold this fast in its true sense,
namely, that it is not we in merely external reflection
who pass over from such qualities to that which is their
Other, but rather that it is their own essential nature so
to pass over. I shall now describe in a few more words
this dialectical element in the determination in question
here, namely, the finite.
We say, " It is ; " this Being is at the same time
finite ; that which it is, it is by means of its end, of its
negation, by means of its limits, of the commencement
of an Other in it, which is not itself. " Finite "is a
qualitative characteristic, a quality generally ; the finite
implies that quality is simply definite character or deter-
minateness, which is identical in an immediate way with
Being, so that if quality passes away, the something de-
finite passes away too. We say something is red ; here
" red " is the quality ; if this quality cease, the " some-
thing " is then no longer this particular thing, and if it
were not a Substance which can endure this withdrawal
of quality, the " something " would be lost. It is just the
same in Spirit ; there are human beings possessed of an
absolutely definite character ; if this be lost, they cease
to be. Cato's fundamental quality was the Roman Re-
public; as soon as that ceased, he died. This quality is
so bound up with him, that he cannot subsist without it.
This quality is finite, is essentially a limit, a negation.
The limit of Cato is the Roman republican ; his spirit,
his idea, has no greater compass than that. Since quality
constitutes the limit of the Something, we call such a
thing finite ; it is essentially within its boundary, in its
negation, and the particularity of the negation and of
the Something is thereby essentially in relation to its
Other. This Other is not another finite, but is the Infi-
nite. In virtue of its essentiality the finite is seen to
.consist in this, that it has its essentiality in its negation,
DEFINITE RELIGION 327
.and this when developed is an Other, and is here the
Infinite.
The leading thought is that the finite is some-
thing whose nature consists in this, that it has not its
Being in its own self, but has that which it is in an
Other, and this Other is the Infinite. The very nature
of the finite it is to have the Infinite as its truth ;
that which it is, is not it itself, but is its opposite, the
Infinite.
This advance is necessary — it is posited in the notion ;
the finite is inherently finite — that is its nature. The
rising up to God is thus just what we have seen it to
be ; this finite self-consciousness does not keep itself
limited to the finite ; it forsakes it, relinquishes it, and
conceives the Infinite. This takes place in the process
of rising up to God, and is the rational element therein.
This advance is the innermost, the purely logical ele-
ment, yet so conceived it only expresses one side of the
Whole : the finite vanishes in the Infinite ; it is its nature
to posit the Infinite as its truth ; the Infinite, which has
thus come to be in this manner, is, however, itself as yet
only the abstract Infinite ; it is only negatively deter-
mined as the Not-finite. The essential nature of the
Infinite, too, on its part, as being this merely negatively
determined Infinite, is to annul itself and to determine
itself ; in fact, to annul and absorb its negation, to posit
itself on the one hand as affirmation, and on the other to
annul in like manner its abstraction, and to particularise
itself and posit the moment of finitude within itself.
The finite vanishes at first in the Infinite ; it is not ; its
Being is only a semblance of Being. We have then the
Infinite before us as an abstract Infinite only, enclosed
within its own sphere ; and it belongs to its real nature
to abolish this abstraction. This results from the
notion or conception of the Infinite. It is the nega-
tion of the negation — the negation relating itself to
itself — and this is absolute affirmation, and at the same
328 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
time Being, simple reference to itself : such is Being.
Since this is the case, the second element too, the Infi-
nite, is not universally posited, but is also affirmation,
and thus its nature is to determine itself within itself, to
preserve the moment of finitude within itself, but ideally.
It is negation of the negation, and thus contains the
differentiation of the one negation from the other nega-
tion. Thus limitation is involved in it, and conse-
quently the finite too. If we define the negation more
strictly, then we see that the one is the Infinite and
the other the finite, and true infinitude is the unity of
the two.
It is only these two moments together which consti-
tute the nature of the Infinite, and its true identity ;
it is this Whole which is for the first time the notion of
the Infinite. This Infinite is to be distinguished from
that which was mentioned previously, namely, the Infi-
nite in immediate knowledge or the Thing-in-itself, which
is the negative Infinite void of determination, the mere
Not-finite of the Kantian philosophy. The Infinite is
now no longer a " Beyond ; " it has determinateness within
itself.
The religion of nature, however imperfect its repre-
sentation of the unity of the finite and Infinite, already
contains this consciousness of the Divine as being the
substantial element, which is at the same time deter-
mined, and thus has the form of a natural mode of
existence. What is beheld as God in it is this divine
Substance in a natural form. Here, therefore, the
content is more concrete and consequently better; it
contains more truth than that found in immediate
knowledge, which refuses to know the nature of God,
because it holds that He is undetermined. Natural
religion really occupies a higher standpoint than this
view, which is characteristic of more recent times, though
those who hold it still mean to believe in a revealed
religion.
DEFINITE RELIGION 329
If we now consider the transition already specified as
it presents itself in the proofs of the existence of God,
we find it expressed in the form of a syllogism to be
the Cosmological Proof. In metaphysics the essence of
this proof is that contingent Being, the contingency of
worldly things, is made the starting-point, and then the
other determination is not that of infinitude, but that
of something necessary in and for itself. This last is
indeed a much more concrete determination than that of
the Infinite ; only, in accordance with the content of the
proof, it is not it that is in question here, but it is only
the logical nature of the transition which comes under
consideration.
If we put the transition in this way into the form of
a syllogism, we then say that the finite presupposes the
Infinite ; the finite is, consequently there is an Infinite.
If we look at such a syllogism critically, we perceive that
it leaves us cold or indifferent; something different from
this and more than this is asked for in religion. From
one point of view this demand is right enough ; on the
other hand, however, such a rejection of proof involves
the depreciation of thought, as if we made use of feeling,
and had to appeal to popular or pictorial conceptions
in order to produce conviction. The true nerve is true
thought ; only when that is true is feeling too of a true
kind.
What is specially noticeable here is that a finite form
of Being is accepted as the starting-point, and this
finite Being thus appears as that by means of which the
infinite Being gets its foundation. A finite Being thus
appears as the foundation or basis. Mediation is given
a position which implies that the consciousness of the
Infinite has its origin in the finite. To speak more
accurately, what we have here is that the finite is ex-
pressed in terms which imply that it has only a positive
relation between the two. The proposition thus means
that the Being of the finite is the Being of the Infinite.
330 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
This relation is at once seen to be inadequate in refer-
ence to the two sides. The finite is the positing agent,
it remains the affirmative, the relation is a positive one,
and the Being of the finite is what is primarily the
basis, which is the point of departure, and which is the
abiding element. It is to be remarked further, that
when we say the Being of the finite is the Being of the
Infinite, the Being of the finite, which is itself the
Being of the Infinite, is in this way the major premiss
of the syllogism, and the mediation between the Being
of the finite and that of the Infinite is not shown. It is
•a proposition without mediation, and that is precisely
the opposite of what is demanded.
This mediation contains a further determination be-
sides. The Being of the finite is not its own Being, but
that of the Other, that of the Infinite; it is not through
the Being of the finite that the Infinite arises, but out of
the not-being of the finite ; this is the Being of the Infi-
nite. The mediation is of such a kind that the finite
stands before us as affirmation. Looked at more closely,
the finite is that which it is as negation ; thus it is not
the Being, but the not-being of the finite ; the mediation
between the two is rather the negative nature in the
finite, and thus the true moment of mediation is not ex-
pressed in this proposition. The deficiency in the form
of the syllogism is that this true content, this element
which belongs essentially to the notion, cannot be ex-
pressed in the form of a single syllogism. The Being of
the Infinite is the negation of the finite ; the destiny of
the finite is simply to pass over into the Infinite, and thus
the other propositions which belong to a syllogism do not
permit of being superadded. The defect here is that
the finite is pronounced to be affirmative and its relation
to the Infinite is declared to be positive, while it is yet
essentially negative, and this dialectic escapes the form of
the syllogism of the understanding.
. If the finite presupposes the Infinite, the following
DEFINITE RELIGION 331
principle, although not distinctly expressed, is implied in
this. The finite is what posits, but as something which
presupposes or preposits the existence of something else,
so that the Infinite is the first and the essential element.
When the presupposition is more fully developed it in-
volves the negative moment of the finite and its relation
to the Infinite. What is implied in religion is not that
the affirmative nature of the finite, its immediacy, is that
on account of which the Infinite exists ; neither is the
Infinite the self-annulling of the finite. The proof, the
form of the relation of the finite to the Infinite — the
thought — takes a wrong direction, owing to the form of
the syllogism. Eeligion, however, contains this Thinking,
this passing over from the finite to the Infinite, a passing
over which is not of a chance character, but is necessary,
and which the very conception of the nature of the In-
finite brings with it. This thought, which essentially be-
longs to the substance of religion, is not correctly laid
hold of in the syllogistic form.
The deficiency in the mediation of the proof is this,
that the Unconditioned is expressed as conditioned by
means of another form of Being. The simple determina-
tion of negation is let go. In the true mediation the
.transition is also made from the Many to the One, and in
such a manner too that the One, is expressed as mediated.
But this defect is amended in the true exaltation of the
Spirit, and, in fact, in virtue of its being stated that it is
not the Many that exist, but the One. Through this
negation the mediation and the condition are done away
.with, and that which is necessary in and for itself is now
mediated through negation of mediation. God creates :
here, then, we have the relation of two and mediation.
This, however, is a judgment, a differentiation : God is
no longer the dark Essence existing in a state of torpor ;
He manifests Himself, He reveals Himself, He posits a
distinction and is for an Other. This distinction in its
highest expression is the Son. The Son is by means of
332 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
the Father, and conversely in Him only is God re-
vealed. But in this Other God is at home with Himself,
does not go outside of Himself; He relates Himself to
Himself ; and since this is no longer a relation toward
what is other than Himself, mediation is done away
with.
God is therefore that which is inherently and absolutely
necessary — necessary in and for itself ; this determination
is the absolute foundation. If even this be not suffi-
cient, God must be conceived of as Substance.
We now come to the other aspect of the subject ; it is
the converse one, the relation in which Substance stands
to the finite. In the act of rising up from the finite to
Substance there is a mediation which was done away
with in the result, posited as non-existent. In the turn-
ing round of Substance toward the many, the finite, and
so forth, this annulled mediation is to be taken up again,
but in such a way that in the movement of the result it
comes to be posited as null ; that is to say, it is not only
the result which must be apprehended, but in that result
the Whole and its process. Now when the Whole is
apprehended in this manner, it is said that Substance has
accidents, has the infinite manifolduess which belongs to
this Substance as a form of Being which passes away.
That which is perishes. But death is just as much
again the beginning of life ; the perishing or passing
away is the beginning of the rise of existence, and there
is only a veering round from Being into Not- Being, and
vice versd. This is the alternation of accidentality, and
Substance is now the unity of this alternation itself.
What is perennial is this alternation ; what is thus alter-
nation and at the same time unity is the substantial ele-
ment, the necessity which translates the origination into
passing away, and vice versd. Substance is the absolute
power or force of Being ; Being belongs to it of right ;
but it is likewise the unity of the act of veering round,
when Being veers round into Not-Being ; it is again, how-
DEFINI TE RELIGION 333
ever, the dominating power over the process of perishing,
so that the perishing perishes.
The defect attaching to this oriental Substance, as well
as to that of Spinoza, lies in the categories of origination
and perishing. Substance is not conceived of as the
active agent within itself, as subject and as activity in
accordance with ends ; not as wisdom, but only as power.
It is something devoid of content ; specific character,
purpose is not contained in it ; the specific character
which manifests itself in this originating and perishing is
not grasped in thought. It is essentially purposeless empty
power, which merely staggers about, so to speak. Such
is the system which is called Pantheism. God is here
the absolute Power, the Being in all determinate Being,
the purification of Himself . from determinateness and
negation. That things are, is owing to Substance ; that
they are not, is likewise owing to the power of Substance,
and this power is immediately immanent for the things.
We have an example of this Pantheism also in the
expression of Jacobi : " God is Being in all determinate
Being ; " and we undoubtedly get from him in this connec-
tion very brilliant definitions of God. This determinate
Being contains Being in an immediate manner within
itself, and this Being in determinate Being is God, who
is thus the Universal in determinate Being. Being is
the most arid possible determination of God, and if He
is to be Spirit it is supremely unsatisfactory ; when used
in this way as the Being of determinate Being in finite
reality we have Pantheism. Jacobi's system was far
removed from Pantheism, yet the latter is involved in
that expression, and Science is not concerned with what
a person thinks in his own mind ; on the contrary, it is
what is expressed that it considers to be of importance.
Parmenides says, Being is everything. This seems to.
be the same thing, and thus to be Pantheism too; but
this thought is purer than that of Jacobi, and is not
Pantheism. For he says expressly that Being alone is,.
334 THE PHILOSOPHY OF-RELIGION
and all limitation, all reality, all definite modes of exist-
ence come to be included in Not-Being ; this latter, ac-
cordingly, is not at all, but it has Being only. With
Parmenides that which is known as determinate Being is
no longer present or existent at all. By Jacobi, on the
contrary, determinate Being is regarded as affirmative,
although it is finite, and thus it is affirmation in finite
existence. Spinoza 'says, What is is the absolute sub-
stance ; what is other than this are mere modi, to which
he ascribes no affirmation, no reality. Thus it cannot
perhaps be said even of the Substance of Spinoza that it is
so precisely Pantheistic as that expression of Jacobi, for
particular things still remain as little an affirmative for
Spinoza as determinate Being does for Parmenides, which,
as distinguished from Being, is for him mere Not-Being,
and is of such a character that this Not-Being is not at all.
< If the finite be taken as thought, then all that is finite
is -understood to ,be included, and thus it is Pantheism.
But in using the term finite it is necessary to draw a
distinction between the finite as represented merely by
this or that particular object, and the finite as including
all things, and to explain in which sense we use the
word. Taken in the latter sense, it is already a pro-
gressive movement of reflection, which no longer arrests
itself at the Particular; "all that is finite" pertains to
reflection. This Pantheism is of modern date, and if it
be said that "God is Being in all determinate Being,"
this expresses a form of Pantheism found among Moham-
medans of modern times, especially the Pantheism of the
Dechelalcddin-Rumi. Here this everything as it is is a
Whole, and is God; and the finite is in this determinate
Being as universal finitude. This Pantheism is the pro-
duct of thinking reflection, which extends natural things
so as to include all and everything, and in so doing con-
ceives of the existence of God not as true universality
of thought, but as an allness ; that is to say, as being in
all individual natural existences, —i.
DEFINITE RELIGION 335
It may be remarked further in passing, that the
definition given by more recent philosophical systems,
according to . which Spirit is unity with itself, and
comprises the World as something ideal within itself, is
called Pantheism, or more precisely the Pantheism of
Spiritualism. But here the category of unity is under-
stood in a one-sided manner only, and the category of
Creation, in which God is cause, and the separation is so
patent that the creation is independent relatively to Him,
is placed in contrast to it. But it is precisely the
fundamental characteristic of Spirit that it is this diffe-
rentiation and positing of the difference ; and that is the
very creation which those who bring the charge of Pan-
theism always want to have. The next thing indeed is
that the separation does not remain permanent, but is
annulled ; for otherwise we would find ourselves in
dualism and Manicheeism.
We now return to the conception in accordance
with which Substance, as the universal ruling power of
thought, is brought into prominence on its own account.
This exaltation, this knowing, is not, however, as yet
religion, for there is wanting to it the moment or.
element which is indispensable in religion as the fully'
developed idea, namely, the moment of Spirit. The
position given to this moment here results from Sub-
stance not being as yet determined within itself as Spirit
— that is, from Spirit not being as yet determined as
Substance. Thus Spirit is outside of Substance, and is
outside of it in the sense of being different from it.
We have now to consider the fundamental character
of Pantheism in its more definite forms and under its
religious aspects.
1 . The Chinese Religion, or the Religion of Measure.
(a.) The General Character of this Religion. — In the
first place, Substance continues to be thought of under
336 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
that aspect of Being which does indeed conie nearest to
Essence, but yet still pertains to the immediateness of
Being ; and Spirit, which is different from it, is a parti-
cular, finite Spirit, is Man. This Spirit is, viewed from
one side, that which is possessed of authority — it is what
carries that power into effect ; viewed from the other
side, it is, as subjected to that power, the accidental
element. If man be conceived of as this power, so that
it is looked upon as acting and working in him, or else
that he succeeds by means of worship in positing himself
as identical with it, the power has the form of Spirit,
but of the human finite spirit ; and here enters in the
element of separation from others over whom he has
power.
(b.) The Historical Existence of this Religion. — We
have, it is true, emerged from that immediate religion in
which we were at the stage of magic, since the particu-
lar spirit now distinguishes itself from Substance, and
stands in such a relation toward it that it regards it as
the universal Power. In the Chinese religion, which
represents the earliest historical form of this substantial
relation, Substance is thought of as representing the
entire sphere of essential Being or measure ; measure
represents what exists in-and-for itself, the Unchange-
able, and T'ien, Heaven, is the objective material repre-
sentation of this essentially existing element. Notwith-
standing this, the element of magic still intrudes itself
into this sphere, in so far as in the world of reality the
individual man, the will and empirical consciousness,
are what is highest. Nay, the standpoint of magic
has here broadened out into an organised monarchy,
which presents the appearance of something imposing
and majestic.
T'ien is the Highest, but not in the spiritual, moral
sense alone; T'ien rather denotes wholly indeterminate
abstract universality ; it is the wholly indeterminate sum
of all physical and moral connection whatsoever. Along
DEFINITE RELIGION 337
"with this conception, however, we have the other idea that
it is the Emperor who is sovereign upon earth, and not
the Heavens. It is not Heaven which has given laws or
gives them, laws which the people respect, divine laws,
laws of religion, of morality. It is not T'ien who
governs nature ; it is the Emperor who governs every-
thing, and he only is in connection with this T'ien.
It is the Emperor alone who brings offerings to T'ieii
at the four principal festivals of the year. He also con-
fers with T'ien, offers his prayers to him ; he alone
stands in connection with him, and governs everything on
earth. The Emperor has in his hands, too, authority over
natural things and their changes, and rules their forces.
We distinguish between the world, the phenomena of
the world, and God, in a way which implies that God
also rules outside of this world. Here, however, the
Emperor alone is the one who rules. The Heaven of
the Chinese — T'ien — is something entirely empty ; the
souls of the departed exist, it is true, in it, they survive
the separation from the body, but they also belong to
the world, since they are thought of as lords over the
course of nature. And they too are under the rule of
the Emperor ; he instals them in their offices and deposes
them. If the dead are conceived of as directors of the
realm of nature, it might be said that they are thus given
an exalted position ; but the fact of the matter is that
they are degraded into genii of the natural world, and
therefore it is right that the self-conscious Will should
direct those genii.
The Heaven of the Chinese, therefore, is not a world
which forms an independent realm above the earth, and
which is in its own right the realm of the Ideal, like
the heaven we conceive of, with angels and the souls of
the departed ; nor is it like the Greek Olympus, which
is distinct from life upon earth. Here, on the contrary,
everything is upon earth, and all that has power is
subject to the Emperor; it is this individual self-con-
VOL. I. Y,
338 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
sciousness which in a conscious way exercises complete
sovereignty. As regard the element of Measure, there
are established typical forms which are called Reason
(Tao). The laws of Tao, or Measures, are determinations,
figurations ; not abstract Being nor abstract Substance,
but figures or signs of Substance, which may either be
understood in a more abstract sense, or else are to be
taken as the determinations for nature and for the spirit
of man, the laws of his will and of his reason.
The detailed statement and development of these
measures would comprise the entire philosophy and
science of the Chinese. Here we have only to treat of
the principal points.
The measures in abstract Universality are quite simple
categories : Being and Not-Being, One and Two, which is
equivalent in general to the Many. The Chinese repre-
sent these universal categories by lineal figures; the
fundamental figure is the line; a simple line ( )
signifies the one, and affirmation or " yes ; " the inter-
rupted line ( ) two, division, and negation or " no."
These signs are called Kud, and the Chinese relate that
these signs appeared to them upon the shell of the tor-
toise. There are many different combinations of these,
which in their turn give more concrete meanings of those
original typical forms. Among these more concrete
meanings we may specially remark the four quarters of
the world and the centre ; four mountains which corre-
spond to these regions of the world and one in the
middle ; five elements, earth, fire, water, wood, metal.
In the same way there are five fundamental colours,
of which each belongs to an element. Each ruling
dynasty in China has a special colour, an element,
and so on. In like manner there are also five key-
notes in music ; five fundamental determinations for
the actions of man in his relations to others. The first
and highest is that of children to their parents, the
second is reverence for deceased ancestors and the dead,
the third obedience to the Emperor, the fourth the
DEFINITE RELIGION 339
mutual relations of brothers and sisters, the fifth the
attitude to be assumed towards other men.
These determinations of Measure constitute the basis
— Reason. Men have to guide themselves in confor-
mity with these, and as regards the natural elements, it
is laid down that their genii are to be reverenced by
man.
There are people who devote themselves exclusively to
the study of this Eeason, who hold aloof from all practi-
cal life and live in solitude ; yet what is always of most
importance is, that these laws should be brought into use
in practical life. When these are maintained intact,
when duties are observed by men, then everything is in
order in nature as well as in the empire ; it goes well both
with the empire and the individual. There is a moral
connection here between the action of man and what
takes place in nature. If misfortune overtakes the em-
pire, whether owing to floods or earthquakes, conflagra-
tions, dry weather, and the like, this is regarded as
entirely the result of man's not having been obedient to
the laws of Eeason, and as having happened because the
rules of Measure have not been maintained in the em-
pire. Owing to this, universal Measure is destroyed,
and misfortune of the kind just described enters the
land.
Thus Measure is known here as Being-in-and-for itself.
This is the general foundation.
What conies next has to do with the giving effect to
Measure. The maintenance of the laws belongs of right
to the Emperor, to the Emperor as the Son of Heaven,
which is the whole, the totality of Measure. The sky,
as the visible firmament, is at the same time the power
of Measure. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven (T'ien-
tsze) ; he has to honour the laws and to promote their
recognition. The heir to the throne is made acquainted
with all the sciences and with the laws by means of a
careful education. It is the Emperor alone who renders
340 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
honour to the law ; his subjects have only to give the
homage to himself which lie renders to the law. The
Emperor brings offerings. This means nothing else than
that the Ernperor prostrates himself and reverences the
law. Among the few Chinese festivals, that of agricul-
ture is one of the principal. The Emperor presides over
it ; on the day of the festival he himself ploughs the
field ; the corn which grows upon this field is used for
offerings. The Empress has the rearing of silk-worms
under her direction, for this supplies the material for
clothing, just as agriculture is the source of all nourish-
ment. When floods, drought, and the like lay waste
and scourge the country, this concerns the Emperor
alone ; he recognises his officials, and especially himself,
as being the cause of misfortune ; if he and his magis-
trates had properly maintained the law, the misfortune
would not have taken place. The Emperor, therefore,
commands the officials to examine themselves, and to
see wherein they have failed in duty ; and he in like
manner devotes himself to meditation and repentance
on account of his not having acted rightly. Upon the
fulfilment of duty, therefore, depends the prosperity both
of the empire and the individual. In this way the
entire worship of God reduces itself .for the subjects to
a moral life. The Chinese religion may thus be called
a moral religion, and it is from this point of view that
it has been found possible to hold that the Chinese are
atheists. These definite laws of measure and specific
rules of duty are due for the most part to Confucius ;
his works are principally occupied with moral questions
of this kind.
This power of the laws and of the rules of Measure
is an aggregate of many special rules and laws. These
special rules must now be known as activities too; in
this particular or special aspect they are subjected to
the universal activity, namely, to the Emperor, who is
the power over the collective activities. These special
DEFINITE RELIGION 341
powers are accordingly represented as human beings, and
especially as the departed ancestors of existing persons.
For a man is specially known as a power when he has
departed — that is to say, when he is no longer entangled
in the interests of daily life. One, however, who of
his own will withdraws himself from the world, sinks
into himself and directs his activities toward the Uni-
versal alone, and towards the gaining of a knowledge
of these powers, renouncing the associations of daily
life, and holding himself aloof from all enjoyments,
may also be regarded as having departed, for in such a
case a man has passed a^vay so far as concrete human
life is concerned, and he too, therefore, comes to be
recognised as a special power.
Besides this there are creatures of imagination who
hold this power in trust, and these constitute a very
fully developed realm, which consists of special powers
of this kind. The entire body of these is subject to the
Universal Power, namely, to that of the Emperor, who
instals them and gives them commands. The best way
in which to get a knowledge of this extensive realm of
popular conception is to study a section of Chinese his-
tory as we have it in the information given by the
Jesuits in the learned work Mdmoires sur les Chinois.
In connection with the inauguration of a new dynasty
we find, among other things, the following description.
About the year 1122 B.C., a time which is still
pretty accurately determined in Chinese history, the
Chau dynasty came to the throne. Wu was the first
Emperor of this dynasty ; the last of the preceding
dynasty, Shau, had, like his predecessors, governed
badly, so that the Chinese imagined that the evil genius
which had embodied itself in him must have been reign-
ing. With a new dynasty everything on earth and in
heaven must be renewed, and this was accomplished by
the new Emperor with the help of the commander-in-
chief of his army. New laws, new music, new dances,
342 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
new officials, were introduced, and therefore both the
living and the dead had to be placed under new
directors.
A point of great importance was the destruction of
the graves of the preceding dynasty — that is to say, the
destruction of the worship of ancestors, who had hitherto
been the powers ruling over families and over nature
generally. Since there were in the new empire families
who were attached to the old dynasty, whose relations
had held the higher offices, and particularly military posts,
yet to offend whom would have been impolitic, a means
had to be found by which the dead relatives of these
families should continue to enjoy the respect and rever-
ence in which they had hitherto been held. Wu accom-
plished this in the following way. After the flames had
been extinguished in the capital (it was not as yet Pekin),
the flames, namely, which the last prince had had kindled
in order to destroy the Imperial Palace with all its treasures,
women, &c., the empire and its government were brought
under Wu's authority, and the moment had arrived for
him to make his entrance as Emperor into the Imperial
city, to present himself to the people, and to give laws.
He nevertheless announced that he could not do this
until everything was brought into proper order between
himself and Heaven. With regard to this imperial con-
stitution between himself and Heaven, it was given out
that it was contained in two books which were deposited
upon a mountain in the care of a venerable sage. Of
these two books, one contained the new laws, and the
other the names and offices of the genii, called Ch'i, who
were the new directors of the empire in the world of
nature, in the same way as the mandarins are in the
world of every-day life. Wu's general was sent off to
fetch these books ; this man was himself already a
Ch'i,1 a present genius, to which dignity he had attained
1 " Spirits generally, and especially those whose seat is referred to hea-
ven, are called Shan ; those whose influence is in and over the earth are
DEFINITE RELIGION 343
during his lifetime by more than forty years of study and
exercise. The books were brought. The Emperor puri-
fied himself and fasted three days ; on the fourth day at
sunrise he appeared in imperial array with the book of
the new laws ; this was laid upon the altar, offerings
were presented, and thanks given to Heaven for the
book. Upon this the laws were proclaimed, and, to the
supreme astonishment and satisfaction of the people, it
turned out that they were absolutely the same as the
former ones. It is generally the case that at a change
of dynasty the old laws remain in force with but little
alteration. The second book was not opened, but the
general was sent with it to a mountain, in order to pro-
mulgate it to the Shan, and to impart the commands of
the Emperor to them. In this book their installation
and degradation were contained. The story goes on to
say that the general had called the Shan together on the
mountain ; this mountain lay in the region which was
the original home of the new dynasty. The departed
had assembled themselves on the mountain in accordance
with the higher or lower rank which they held, while the
general sat upon a throne in the midst of them, which
had been erected for this purpose. He was splendidly
attired and decorated with the eight Kua ;. the imperial
standard and the sceptre, the staff of command over the
Shan, lay upon an altar before him, and likewise the
diploma of the sage who thereby authorised the general
to make known the new commands to the Shan. The
general read the diploma ; the Shan who had ruled
simply styled Ch'i, - - - and another character altogether, - - - is em-
ployed for the spirits or manes of departed men." — Religions of China,
p. 12. This other character is "' Kwei." "We have seen," it is added
farther on, "that Kwei was the name for the spirit of departed men, and
Shan the name for spirits generally, and specially for spirits of heaven.
The combination of the names (kwei shan) can often be translated in no
other way than by spirits, spiritual beings " (pp. 39-40. )
Hegel uses the word " Schin " in all cases, but it has been thought better
to take advantage in translation of the learned authority of Dr. Legge,
both as regards words and the orthography of names, — (TR. S.)
344 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
under the previous dynasty were declared unworthy to
rule any longer on account of their neglect, which was
the cause of the disasters that had overtaken the country,
and they were dismissed from their posts. They were
told that they could go wherever they liked, they might
even enter into human life again in order that they
might in this way earn a recompense anew. The de-
puted commander-in-chief now named the new Shan,
and commanded one of those present to take the register
and to read it aloud. He obeyed, and found his name
to be the first on the list. The commander-in-chief
then congratulated him upon this recognition of his vir-
tues. He was an old general. Afterwards the others
were summoned, some of whom had fallen in the in-
terests of the new dynasty, and some who had fought and
sacrificed themselves in those of the former one. In
particular, there was one among them, a prince, com-
mander-in-chief of the army of the former dynasty. In
time of war he had been an able and a great general, in
peace a faithful and conscientious minister, and it was
he who had placed the greatest hindrances in the way of
the new dynasty, until finally he perished in battle. His
name was the fifth — that is to say, it followed upon those
of the directors of the four mountains which represented
the four quarters of the world and the four seasons. As
his office, he was to be intrusted with the inspection of
all the Shan who were put in charge of rain, wind,
thunder, and clouds. But his name had to be called
twice, and the staff of command had to be shown to him
before he would approach the throne ; he came with a
contemptuous mien, and remained proudly standing.
The general addressed him with the words, "Thou art no
longer what thou wast among men, thou art nothing but
an ordinary Shan who has as yet no office ; I have to
convey one to thee from the master, give reverence to
this command." Upon this the Shan fell down, a long
speech was addressed to him, and he was appointed to
DEFINITE RELIGION 345
be the chief of those Ch'i whose business it is to take
charge of rain and thunder. It now became his business
to create rain at the proper time, to disperse the clouds
when they were likely to be the cause of floods, not to
allow the wind to increase to a storm, and only to permit
the thunder to exercise its power for the purpose of
frightening the wicked and of occasioning their repent-
ance. He received four-and-twenty adjutants, to each
of whom his own special inspectorship was intrusted, and
this was changed every fortnight: of these, some were
put in charge of other departments. The Chinese have
five elements, and these, too, were given chiefs. To one
Shan was given the oversight of fire, with reference to
conflagrations ; six Shans were appointed over epidemics,
and received orders with a view to the alleviation of the
troubles of human society, to purge it from time to time
from superabundance of population. After all the offices
were distributed, the book was given back to the Em-
peror, and to this day it constitutes the astrological part
of the calendar. Two directories appear every year in
China; one relates to the mandarins, the other to the
invisible officials, the Ch'i [viz., Shan who have become
such]. In case of the failure of crops, conflagrations,
floods, &c., the Ch'i who are concerned are dismissed,
their images thrown down, and fresh Ch'i appointed.
Thus the lordship of the Emperor over nature is here a
completely organised monarchy.
There were besides among the Chinese a class of men
who occupied themselves inwardly, who not only be-
longed to the general State religion of T'ien, but formed a
sect who gave themselves up to thought, and sought to
attain to consciousness of what the True is. The first
stage of advance out of that earliest attitude of natural
religion (which was, that immediate self-consciousness
in its very immediateness, knows itself to be what is
highest, to be the sovereign power) is the return of
consciousness into itself, the claim that consciousness
346 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
has essentially a meditating character. This stage is
exemplified in the sect of Tdo.
It is, however, to be remarked that these persons who
are absorbed in thought, in an inner life, and betake
themselves to the abstraction of thought, at the same
time have it as an aim to become immortal, pure beings
in their own right, partly on account of their having
been previously consecrated, and partly because, since
they have reached the goal and attained mastership, they
deem themselves higher beings, even as regards their
existence here and their actual state.
This turning inwards, toward abstracting pure thought,
is thus already to be found in ancient times among the
Chinese. A revival or reform of the doctrine of Tao
took place at a later date ; this is principally ascribed to
Lao-tsze, a wise man, who, although somewhat older,
was contemporary with Confucius and Pythagoras.
Confucius is emphatically a moral, and not a specu-
lative philosopher. T'ien, this universal power over
nature which attains to reality by the authority of the
Emperor, is closely associated with morals generally, and
it was this moral aspect especially which was developed
by Confucius. With the sect of Tao the initial act is
the passing over into thought, into the pure element.
It is remarkable in this connection that in Tao — in
Totality — the idea of the Trinity makes its appearance.
The One has produced the Two, and the Two the Three :
this is the Universum. Thus, as soon as ever man took
up a thinking attitude, the idea of Trinity at once made
its appearance as the result of this. The One or Unity is
wholly characterless or devoid of determination, and is
simply abstraction. If it is to have the principle of life
and of spirituality, an advance must be made to deter-
mination. Unity is only real in so far as it contains
two within itself, and with this Trinity is given. That
this advance has been made to thought does not, how-
ever, imply that any higher spiritual religion has as yet
DEFINITE RELIGION 347
established itself: the determinations of Tao remain
complete abstractions, and life, consciousness, the spiritual
element is not. found, so to speak, in Tao itself, but still
belongs absolutely and entirely to man in his immediate
character.
To us God is the Universal, but determined within
Himself; God is Spirit; His existence is spirituality.
Here the actuality, the living form of Tao, is still the
actual immediate consciousness. Though it is indeed
dead, as represented by Lao-tsze, it yet transforms itself
into other shapes, and is living and actually present in
its priests.
Like T'ien, this One is the governing power, but is
only an abstract basis, the Emperor being the actual
embodiment of this basis, and, strictly speaking, the
real governing power, and the same is the case with the
idea of Eeason. Reason is, in like manner, the abstract
foundation, which only has its actuality in existing
human beings.
(c.) Worship or Cultiis. — Worship really represents the
whole existence of the religion of Measure, the power of
Substance not having as yet taken on the form of a stable
objectivity, and even the realm of idea or popular concep-
tion, so far as it has developed itself in that of the Shan,
is in subjection to the power of the Emperor, who is him-
self merely the actual embodiment of the Substantial.
When, accordingly, we begin to inquire into worship
in the stricter sense, all that is left for us to do is to
examine the relation of the universal determinateness of
this religion to inner life and to self-consciousness.
The Universal being only the abstract foundation, man
remains in it without having a strictly immanent, realised,
or concrete inner character ; he has no firm hold or
stability within himself. Not until freedom, not until
rationality comes in does he possess this, for then he is
the consciousness of being free, and this freedom deve-
lops until it appears as reason.
348 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
This developed reason yields absolute principles and
duties, and the man who is conscious of these absolute
determinations in his freedom, in his consciousness, who
knows they are immanent determinations within him,
has then, for the first time within himself, within his
conscience, something to hold by and to give him sta-
bility. In so far only as man knows God as Spirit, and
knows the determinations of Spirit, are these divine de-
terminations essential, absolute determinations of ration-
ality— determinations, in fact, of that which is duty within
him, and which, so far as he is concerned, is imma-
nent in him.
Where the Universal is merely this abstract founda-
tion in a general sense, man has no immanent definite
inner life within himself. For this reason, all that is
external acquires an inward character for him ; every-
thing external has a meaning for him, a relation to him,
and, in fact, a practical relation. From a general point
of view, this external element is the constitution of the
State, the fact that he is ruled from without.
No morality in the strict sense, no immanent ration-
ality by means of which man would have worth and
dignity within himself and protection against what is
external, is bound up with this religion. All which
has a relation to him is for him a power, because he
possesses no power in his own rationality and moral
sense. The result is this indefinable dependence upon
all external circumstances, this complete and entirely
arbitrary superstition.
Speaking generally, what lies at the foundation of
this external dependence is the fact that all that is
particular cannot be placed in an inner relation with
a Universal, which remains merely abstract. The inte-
rests of individuals lie outside of the universal deter-
minations which the Emperor puts into practice. As
regards particular interests, what we find is rather the
conception of a power which exists on its own account.
DEFINITE RELIGION 349
This is not the universal power of Providence, which
extends its sway even over the destinies of individuals.
What we find rather is that the Particular is brought
under the sway of a particular power. This power is
that of the Shan, and with it a whole realm of super-
stition enters in.
Thus the Chinese are in perpetual fear and dread with
regard to everything, because all that is external has a
meaning, is for them a power which is able to use force
against them and to affect them.
China is, par excellence, the home of divination ; in.
every locality you find many people who deal in pro-
phecies. The finding of the right spot for a grave,
questions of locality, of relations in space, &c., are the
kind of things with which they occupy themselves during
their entire life.
If in building a house another house flanks their own,
and the front has an angle towards it, all possible cere-
monies are gone through, and the special powers in
question are rendered propitious by means of presents.
The individual is wholly without the power of personal
decision and without subjective freedom.
END OF VOL. I.
Printed by BALLANTVNE, HANSON & Co.
Edinburgh and London
30112057548643
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